At the age of 88 Christos Christodoulatos the great old champion and for 26 consecutive years president of Hellenic Table Tennis Federation (1982-2008) and a vice-president of the European Table Tennis Union (1992-1996) passed away.
An very important person for the sport of the country and with international prestige. A factor with a huge contribution to the sports movement in general he had the unlimited respect and appreciation first with his very important course as an international player and later with his presence in various administrative positions.
An eminent lawyer he practiced alongside the top position on the federation’s board of directors. He died peacefully at his home on Tuesday 11/15 and in a close family circle on Friday 11/18 the funeral service took place in Melissia and then the cremation process in Ritsona.
Christos Christodoulatos was born in 1934 in Thessaloniki and first picked up a racket in 1945 at the local club Aetos. He made his first sports report at YMCA and in the 1949-1950 season he competed at OAA Heraklion as his family had been in Crete for a year. He returned to YMCA in 1952 he took part for the first time in the Greek championship for men and women but in the same year his relationship with the sport changed. He entered Athens Law School came to settle permanently in Athens and his parents did not allow him to continue playing table tennis in order to devote himself to his studies. He finished the University and got involved in the sport again in 1959 making a report at the Nea Ionia AS Athens.
He held the racket with penholder grip and was the first to play with top spin in Greek table tennis. His long presence in the national team began in 1960. He stated that by 1980 when he was retired from the national team he had made more than 650 international appearances. He won a total of 25 National titles in men’s individual events he was 43 years old when he was last crowned Greek men’s singles champion (second in history as the most multi-winner in this event behind Ioannis Vlotinos with 10) and he tasted all these successes with 4 different clubs (AE Nea Ionia AEK AO Pagratiou and Olympiacos). In addition he had many firsts in the First National League and the Greek Cup as well as international awards.
On Saturday morning at the development open at the Peace and Friendship Stadium the Hellenic federation announced the sad fact expresses its deep sorrow and observed a minute’s silence in memory of ex president.
Christos Christodoulatos was Chairman of the board of directors of HTTF continuously from March 1982 to October 2008. He was vice-president of the European Table Tennis Union ETTU (1992-1996)
He became honorary president of the Mediterranean Table Tennis Union and was its vice-president while he was also president of the Balkan Table Tennis Union and adviser to Ichiro Ogimura former International Table Tennis Federation’s (ITTF) president.
His biography on sport:
Men’s Singles gold medal in Mediterranean Games 1971
Gold medal also in the Mediterranean Games of the sport in 1973 in men’s doubles (with teammate Manolis Diakakis)
1st Mediterranean also in mixed doubles in 1971 (with teammate Loukia Skrivanou)
Bronze medal in men’s doubles at the 1967 Balkan Games
Several more medals in both institutions in team and individual
10-time Greek men’s singles champion (1962 1963 1965 1966 1967 1968 1970 1971 1972 1977)
11 times Greek champion in men’s doubles (1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1970 1971 1972 1973 1978 1979)
3 times champion of Greece in mixed men’s and women’s doubles (1963 1970 1971)
8 National titles in men’s intercollegiate competitions: In 1963 with A.O. Pagratiou and the rest in the 70s with Olympiakos S.F.P. (1971 1972 1973 1974 1976 1977 1978)
Greek Cups with Olympiakos S.F.P. in the same decade (records lost and number uncertain)
1977 Men’s Class A individual champion
Manjaroglou Men’s Singles tournament winner in 1964 1969 1970 1971 and 1976)
Winner of the men’s singles at the Thessaloniki tournament in 1966
3 years Greek runner-up in men’s singles (1969 1974 1979)
4 years Greek runner-up in men’s doubles (1967 1969 1974 1976)
6 years runner-up of Greece in men’s-women’s mixed doubles (1964 1965 1967 1968 1977 1978)
Institutional positions in detail:
PRESIDENT:
-of the Union of International Table Tennis Athletes (1979-1982)
– The Hellenic Table Tennis Federation (1982-2008)
– of the Fan Character Committee (1984-2000)
– of the Union of Mediterranean countries MTTU
– of the Union of Balkan countries BTTU
VICE PRESIDENT :
– of the European Table Tennis Union ETTU (1992-1996)
-of the International Federation of SPORT AGAINST DRUGS in Madrid (1997)
MEMBER :
-of the Board of the World Table Tennis Federation ITTF (1995-1997)
– of the Supreme National Committee of the ATHENS 2004 OLYMPIC GAMES (1998-2004)
-of the Olympic Games Committee (1984-2000) and Deputy General Secretary of the EOA (1989-1992)
