Who was Diane Rowe? English Professional Table Tennis Player Dead at 90

Diane Rowe was a professional table tennis player who began her career at a very young age. She started training in table tennis when she was just 14 years old, under Viktor Barna. She was left-handed and until 1951, played a defensive style, but later put more accent on attacking.

She retired from professional competitions in 1973 and worked as a table tennis coach until 1997. She received the ITTF Merit Award in 1993 and the Dieter Mauritz Gedachtnispreis in 2001. She also won 17 English Open titles throughout her career.

Rowe was married to fellow table tennis player, Eberhard Scholer in 1966 and moved to Dusseldorf, Germany, because Scholer was German. She also had a twin sister called Rosalind who was a great table tennis player.

The two often collaborated and played doubles together oftentimes. After officially retiring from the sport, they published their book, The twins on table tennis. 

Rowe died on  Monday, June 19, 2023, at the age of 90. No cause of death was disclosed.