KUALA LUMPUR: Veteran sports administrator Chan Fong Keong was honoured for his contributions by Table Tennis Association of Malaysia (TTAM) yesterday.
Chan, 83, retired last year after serving the sport, both at home and abroad, in various capacities for over five decades.
TTAM president Datuk Seri Tee Lip Sin presented Fong Keong with a contribution to acknowledge his sacrifice and long service to the association over the years.
He had served as TTAM secretary-general and later as executive secretary and also held roles at the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), Asian Table Tennis Federation (ATTF) and the Commonwealth Table Tennis Federation (CTTF).
"I have been involved in table tennis (administration) since the 1960s and helped organise the 1965 Southeast Asian Peninsular Games followed by the Sea Games from the 1970s," said Chan today.
"I also became the technical committee chairman for the ITTF and the ATTA.
"I have spent over five decades in the sport, it has been a very long time."
He was presented with the ATTF Outstanding Contribution Award as well as the CTTF Life Member Award, both in 2019.
Chan added that it was heartwarming to see Malaysian players achieve strong results at the Asian level recently.
"They (players) have done very well. It is not easy to win medals at the Asian level. Asian countries are very strong at table tennis, all the world champions are from Asia," said Chan.
"I hope the players will continue to train hard and work on improving themselves. They must focus and not be overconfident."
National doubles pair Javen Choong-Wong Qi Shen stunned China's World No. 1 pair en route to claiming a historic bronze at the Asian Table Tennis Championships in Kazakhstan recently.
Earlier in May the national boys' under-19 and under-15 squads created history by winning the team events at the Southeast Asian Championships in Kuala Lumpur for the first time.