John has been picked by the International Table Tennis Federation to act as an umpire at the Individual World Championships, to be held in Yokohama, Japan, in April/May.

This is the premier event of the 2009 international calendar and will receive extensive television coverage.

John will be representing England as an international umpire and this is a great honour for him and for Gainsborough table tennis.

He has previously represented England at Individual World Championships, the last occasion being in 2005 when the event was held in Shanghai, China.

John began umpiring in 1996 when he qualified at the entry level of county umpire, eventually achieving his ambition of becoming an international umpire in 2002.

The highlight of John's umpiring career has been to umpire the 2005 Men's World Cup Final in Belgium.

The same year saw him move up to Blue Badge status, one of only 150 such umpires in the world.

John's table tennis career has been varied. He has held several posts in the Scunthorpe League including secretary, president and press officer, but in recent years has had increasing commitments with the English Table Tennis Association and disabled table tennis.

In 2004 he was appointed to the National Umpires and Referees Committee of the ETTA and in 2007 became treasurer of the British Table Tennis Association for People with Disabilities.