Roy Evans 1998 Deaths

Roy Evans

longtime president of the International Table Tennis Federation who is credited with coming up with the idea of Ping-Pong Diplomacy, the 1971 initiative that paved the way for diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Communist China; during Evans' term he watched the sport of "table tennis" expand to include 180 countries which now have national teams and its elevation to an Olympic sport in 1988; his most notable accomplishment, however, was his suggestion to Chinese premier Zhou En-lai that he invite Western countries competing in the world table tennis championships in Japan to visit China on their way home; the Chinese obliged, and ultimately, the action spawned President Nixon's notorious trip in 1972; of natural causes