Very sad news has shaken the world of table tennis. Edith Santifaller a woman who was an authentic person of the national and international table tennis movement has passed away. She has worked as a teacher and director of the Rudolf Stolz Elementary School in Bolzano.
She has been passionate about our sport since her father bought a concrete table tennis table and in 1949 at the age of 17 she took part in the first tournament in Merano winning singles doubles and mixed doubles. It was a sign of destiny of a life that would have given her many satisfactions a little on all fronts. In the same year she made her debut in Milan at the Italian Championships.
Throughout her career she won 112 Italian titles the last in Lucera in 2016. She took part in 17 editions of the World Veteran Championships the last in 2014 in Auckland New Zealand winning eleven medals of which two golds in singles and four in doubles. Overall she has collected over 400 cups. She was a coach of the National youth Italian team captain of the Italian teams and head of delegation during the International events.
She has held positions within the European Table Tennis Union and the International Table Tennis Federation. ITTF in 1999 awarded her the Merit Award. In 1983 she was appointed by the president Sandro PERTINI “Knight of the Republic”. She received the Golden Star for Sport Merit from CONI (Italian National Olympic Committee) and in 2017 an award from Austria.
From 1978 to 2016 she served as president of the Provincial Committee of Bolzano of the FITeT and organized the 1992 Olympic qualifications the Italian Open in 1994 and 1996 and for several times European League matches. She has always fought for the growth of the provincial movement and was a founding member of the sports area Maso della Pieve of Bolzano. With Gianfranco Trovò she was the creator of the Transalpine Trophy which from this year was organized by the Italian Table Tennis Federation.
During the recent Italian Championships in Bolzano the president Renato Di Napoli wanted to give her a plaque in recognition of the precious work done for table tennis which was received by her husband Franz Mair. The federal president and the whole Council gather around Franz and Edith’s family to express them the signs of the most affectionate closeness and condolences.
