Carl Prean, who became England’s Number 1 table tennis player at the tender age of 15, hails from the Isle of Wight.
Carl Lustig Prean, to give him his full name, was born at St Mary’s Hospital in Newport on 20th August 1967. He grew up (and still lives) in Ryde, and attended Ryde School.
However, Carl’s parents Wolfgang and Erica were German/Austrian refugees, who fled the Nazis. When he started playing in the German Table Tennis Bundesliga, he acquired a German passport. He was offered the opportunity to play for Germany – which would have brought greater financial reward – but declined.
Carl learned his table tennis from his parents. His father Wolfgang had been a keen amateur footballer in London. However, when John moved to the Isle of Wight in his late 30s, he decided to take up table tennis.
Wolfgang was the chairman of the English Table Tennis Association in the 80s. Erica was the Isle of Wight’s representative with the English Table Tennis Association for many years.
Wolfgang was Managing Director at Columbia Products – which made cosmetics – in Binstead. Carl took up league table tennis in Division 6 of the Island League at the tender age of 7, playing for the works’ team of his father’s company. He worked his way up through the leagues, finally appearing in Division 1 aged 10.
His most formidable opponents during his Isle of Wight Table Tennis League playing days were the Island’s top players of the 70s: Jim Daly and Steve Harris.
However, Carl was appearing beyond the Isle of Wight stage in his teenage years. He became the England senior No 1 table tennis player aged just 15. In 1982, he won the European Under-14 Youth Championship in Austria, following which he became the Under-18 European Champion in Holland in 1985.
Carl sees his greatest successes as winning the Belgian Open in 1985 and the Brazilian Open in 1996. He was a 4 times medallist at the European Championships, taking silver in ’88 and ’92 and bronze in ’90 and ’94. In 1983, he took the bronze medal in the World Championships in China.
Prean also represented Great Britain at 3 Olympic Games: Seoul ’88, Barcelona ’92 and Atlanta ’96.
Table tennis is far more popular outside the UK than it is here. Prean played for 18 seasons as a professional in the German Bundesliga, where he would appear in front of crowds of several thousands. His most successful season was for Saarbrucken in 1988/89, when his team won a treble of trophies: the German League, cup and European Cup. He achieved fluency in the German language while living in Germany and later went on to appear in the French League.
Carl regrets that table tennis does not have the same popularity and appeal in the UK as it does on the continent of Europe.
However, the sport was more popular in the 20th century than it currently is today. In 1990, 2 million television viewers tuned in to watch Carl beat his deadly rival Desmond Douglas in the final of the Daily Telegraph Masters.
He says:
“Without publicity, the sport has gone downhill. It has to be on television to be successful.”
On the Isle of Wight, table tennis has contracted from 7 leagues when Carl started playing in the 70s to just 3 today.
Carl has said his most difficult opponent was the Swede Jan-Ole Waldner, whom he describes as “the greatest player of all time.” He added that he has beaten him in competition “but not enough on the big occasions”.
Waldner knocked Carl out of the Barcelona Olympics in the last 16 of the competition.
The Isle of Wight table tennis player retired from top competition in 2003, although he continued to play occasional competitive fixtures up until 2008.
Carl Prean has said about playing table tennis in middle age:
“You can be a very good player in your mid-40s, but it’s rare. You have to be fit. Competitive table tennis causes strain on the back, groin, knees and shoulder.”
Since retiring, Carl has done table tennis coaching, including for England. However, he is now retired and claims to be enjoying life. He has invested much of his earnings as a professional table tennis player into the stock market.
Carl has taken up cricket since the end of his table tennis career, playing for local sides Shanklin and Arreton. He is a fan of Hampshire Cricket Club. However, he does not claim to have the same prowess with the the cricket bat as he has had with the table tennis paddle.
He also supports Tottenham Hotspur FC, which he describes as a “depressing” interest, given Spurs’ recent lack of success.
Ryde’s Table Tennis Centre at Smallbook was named the Carl Prean Table Tennis Centre in his honour. An internet petition was set up to return Carl Prean’s name to the centre after it was inexplicably removed.
