Chris Yan wins Australian Senior Player of the Year Award

Olympian and dual Commonwealth Games representative Chris Yan capped off a stellar season, winning Table Tennis Australia’s (TTA) Victor Barna Memorial Trophy as the Australian Senior Player of the Year. 

The award and title is the highest honour for an Australian senior player and is awarded annually based on performance and results, combined with an athlete’s conduct.

Within the period of assessment, Yan continued his momentum of rock solid performances at the national and international level, including remaining undefeated throughout the 2020 Oceania Olympic Qualification Tournament for Teams, and winning two crucial matches in the final against New Zealand to ensure Australia achieved maximum quota places for the Tokyo Olympic Games next year.

Yan also won the Australian Olympic Qualification Tournament, earning the right to represent Australia in both the Men’s Singles and Men’s Teams events in Tokyo.

Having never won the prestigious award before, the Rio Olympian said receiving it was an honour.

“Winning this award means a lot to me because 2020 has been a tough year and because I worked so hard throughout 2019 to prepare for the Olympic Qualifications for both the Team and Individual events,” Yan said.

“The Individual Qualifications were very hard for me from the beginning. I lost two matches and tried so hard to come back and winning means a lot.

TTA Chief Executive Officer Scott Houston said Yan’s performances were outstanding, but it is also his also his attitude amongst his teammates makes him deserving of the title.

“Chris has proved through his performances that he is worthy of winning this award, but I’d like to also commend him on his leadership and contribution to team spirit,’ Houston said.

“While 2020 has not been the year anyone expected, Chris still showed his potential with some incredible performances earlier in the year and I have no doubt we’ll see him go from strength to strength ahead of the Tokyo Olympics next year.”

Under normal circumstances the assessment period would have been from immediately after the 2019 National Senior & Youth Championships, until completion of the 2020 National Senior & Youth Championships. However, with COVID-19 causing the cancellation of the event this year, TTA and the National Selection Panel determined that presenting the award at the end of 2020 was the most appropriate way forward.