Johnny Leach

Johnny Leach
Personal information
Full name	John Alfred Leach
Born	(1922-11-20)20 November 1922 Dagenham, Essex, England
Died	5 June 2014(2014-06-05) (aged 91)
Medal record Men's table tennis Representing  England World Championships[1] 1949 Stockholm Singles 1951 Vienna Singles 1953 Bucharest Team 1947 Paris Doubles 1952 Bombay Doubles 1952 Bombay Mixed Doubles 1952 Bombay Team 1953 Bucharest Doubles 1947 Paris Singles 1949 Stockholm Mixed Doubles 1949 Stockholm Team 1950 Budapest Team 1951 Vienna Doubles 1951 Vienna Mixed Doubles 1954 Wembley Team 1955 Utrecht Team

John Alfred Leach MBE (20 November 1922 – 5 June 2014) was a British table tennis player, coach, and author. He began competing at a relatively old age, 17, before serving in World War II. During the war, he greatly elevated his game and, in 1946, achieved a world ranking. In 1949, Leach became Great Britain's second World Champion singles player. After winning the title, he achieved widespread fame within the United Kingdom, appearing on television and writing for News of the World. Two years later, Leach added a second singles title. In 1953, he was part of the team that won Great Britain's first, and as of 2023 only, team World Championship. He also won 13 bronze and silver World championship medals between 1947 and 1955. As of 2014, Leach is just one of 11 players from any country to win two singles championships.

After Leach retired in 1965, he remained active in the sport. He was England's national coach for eight years and served as president of the English Table Tennis Association for more than 20 years. He continued to write a column for News of the World for twenty years and published several books on table tennis. He also worked as a commentator for the BBC and ITV during table tennis broadcasts. Leach bought a table tennis manufacture and started a talent search agency. In 1966, he was named a Member of the Order of the British Empire. He was inducted into the International Table Tennis Federation Hall of Fame in 1997.