Table Tennis Victoria Board reveals new director appointments

Olympian and Paralympian Melissa Tapper headlines the list of four new directors who have recently joined the Table Tennis Victoria (TTV) Board.

Along with Tapper, Table Tennis Victoria community members Raj Datta, Rhys Thomas and Agni Usha Vaitheeswaran have filled Board roles to help shape the direction of table tennis in Victoria.

In a statement, TTV advised “the four new members of the Board will bring a variety of table tennis viewpoints including Tapper as one of Australia’s most decorated international table tennis players of recent times, Datta who is both a player and coach, Thomas who is a player and former President of Melbourne University Table Tennis Club and Vaitheeswaran who represented India before continuing to play for Victoria when she migrated to Australia.

“The TTV Board welcome the new Board Members and are excited to leverage their skills to increase participation in table tennis during an exciting Olympic and Paralympic year.”

The Board also thanked outgoing directors Deborah Bruce and Melissa Lok for their work in the areas of governance/risk management and finance, respectively, and acknowledge Andrew Weiss who steps off the Board and will assume the interim Chief Executive position from late January.

New Board Member Profiles
Raj Datta
Datta has a passion for table tennis, being active in playing, coaching and supporting multiple aspects of the sport. This includes involvement in junior, senior, veteran and high-performance table tennis programs at various times during the past 30 plus years. He brings analytical and problem-solving skills to the Board from his professional engineering experience in Australia and overseas along with strong business acumen from 22 years' experience expanding a small engineering company to an industry leader. With previous experience on sporting and cultural committees, he looks forward to contributing to the TTV Board by fostering growth and sustainability in table tennis.

Melissa Tapper
One of Australia’s most decorated table tennis players of the modern era, Tapper is a Commonwealth Games Gold medallist and made Australian history by becoming the first athlete to participate in both the Olympics and Paralympics in the same year in Rio in 2016. She achieved this feat again in Tokyo. With a Bachelor of exercise science and a diploma of conveyancing, Tapper will be able to bring a personal and professional lens to the TTV Board. She is also on the International Table Tennis Federation Athletes Commission and has recently launched a streetwear brand, South West Society, that sees funds go towards supporting her local community in Hamilton.

Rhys Thomas
Since moving to Melbourne in 2017, Thomas has been actively involved in the Victorian table tennis community. He served as President of Melbourne University Table Tennis Club in 2018 and regularly participates in table tennis events and competitions across the state. This has included representing Victoria at the 2022 National Senior Championships. Rhys' exposure to the sport means he understands the opportunities and challenges facing table tennis in Victoria. Thomas is hopeful he can use this exposure, along with his working background in law and public policy, to find new ways to build participation and engagement to enable the sport to grow.

Agni Usha Vaitheeswaran
Vaitheeswaran is deeply committed to table tennis, having started playing the sport at the age of 5 and representing her home state and country in India before continuing to play for Victoria when she migrated to Australia. Her dedication to table tennis has been unwavering, and she volunteered as an Accountant at Table Tennis Victoria between 2011/12, where she gained valuable insights into the inner workings of the organisation. Agni also brings over 12 years of experience in finance to the Board and is currently Head of Finance and Reporting at legalsuper. As part of her career in finance, she has gained a deep understanding of the roles and responsibilities of a board and how a business operates. Vaitheeswaran’s drive to be on the board stems from her desire to merge her financial expertise with her passion for table tennis.

Image shows new TTV board members, from left: Raj Datta, Melissa Tapper, Rhys Thomas and Agni Usha Vaitheeswaran. Credit: TTV.