Photo: Dexter St Louis serves during a table tennis contest with Northern Ireland at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games on 6 April. (Copyright Allan V Crane/CA-Images/Wired868)

Iconic Trinidad and Tobago table tennis player Dexter St Louis passed away today in France, where he played professionally in Bordeaux. He was 51.

Aaron Wilson,left and Yuvraaj Dooram, right, will be representing TT, along with veteran Dexter St Louis and Rheann Chung at the upcoming Commonwealth Games to be held between April 4-15 in Birmingham,England.

WITH the clock counting down for TT to meet the deadline for the ratification of players for the Commonwealth Games from April 4-15, the local Olympic Committee (TTOC) has come to the rescue of table tennis.

T&T’s Bob Roopnarine has been appointed honorary secretary of the Caribbean Regional Table Tennis Federation (CTTF) for the next two years after being proposed for the position by Guyana and seconded by Jamaica when the CRTTF held its annual general meeting during the ongoing 58th CRTTF Championship in Santo Domimgo, Dominican Republic on Monday.

This country will play host to the 59th Senior Caribbean Regional Table Tennis Federation (CRTTF) next year, the fourth time it will be hosting the event after doing so previously in 1996, 2002 and 2006.

WON IN FIVE GAMES: Arun Roopnarine

BOTH Trinidad and Tobago teams picked up the bronze medals in their respective categories when the Caribbean Table Tennis Championships continued Monday in the Dominican Republic.

Trinidad and Tobago table tennis team left Piarco this morning for Surat, India via Barbados, London and Delhi to participate in the Table Tennis Commonwealth Championships.

Table TennisThe invention of table tennis is credited to the innovation of game manufactures such as English sports manufactures John Jaques & Sons that sought to market an indoor version of lawn tennis. Several unsuccessful proto types came before the final product, which included several board games and patented “table cricket” and “table football”.

The game became popular through out Europe and in 1926 the International Table Tennis Federation was formed and the first constitution and rules of table tennis were drafted and agreed upon. Millions around the world today enjoy table tennis both recreationally and professionally with many local, regional and international leagues and tournaments.

The sport became a well-respected Olympic sport in 1988 and the Commonwealth Games in 2002. Trinidad Table Tennis Association is the governing body in Trinidad and Tobago.

The World Beach Taekwondo Championships will now take place in late July to avoid a clash with Ramadan ©Getty Images

The inaugural World Beach Taekwondo Championships have been pushed back to avoid a clash with the Muslim holy month Ramadan.

Bali was confirmed as the location for the new event earlier this month by the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF), with competition initially scheduled to be held on June 4 and 5.

Poomsae taekwondo will feature at the World Beach Taekwondo Championships and could also appear at the inaugural ANOC World Beach Games in San Diego in 2017 ©WTF

Bali in Indonesia has been officially confirmed as the location for the first ever World Beach Taekwondo Championships in June, an innovative new event in which men will wear sleeveless shirts and women will compete in tank tops.