It started, as many questionable ideas do, with a perfectly reasonable question.
Why don't table tennis teams go on tour?
Football clubs do it. Rugby teams do it. Cricket clubs disappear overseas for days at a time, returning with stories that generally can't be repeated in polite company.
Yet table tennis players seem perfectly content spending their lives travelling between the same village halls, occasionally venturing into a neighbouring county if they're feeling particularly adventurous.
Nick “El Capitan” Howard thought this was a missed opportunity.
So he posted a message on TableTennisDaily announcing that the Bugbrooke Badgers fancied an international tour. Would anybody be interested in hosting them?
Somewhere in Czechia, a man named Jan saw the message.
And said yes.
Little did he know what he was letting himself in for.
The Touring Party
Three Badgers volunteered for international duty.
Nick “El Capitan” Howard — Team captain, tour organiser, enthusiastic travel commentator and a man determined to experience absolutely everything a foreign country has to offer.
Dom “The Dr” Barker — Proud holder of a PhD from Oxford University, enthusiast of historical buildings and a man whose cultural appreciation would soon be tested by his travelling companions.
Craig “The Postman” Brown — Parcelforce employee, excellent table tennis player, naturally funny bloke and a man who enjoys a good zoo considerably more than an endless procession of European castles.
Together, they departed Heathrow for Vienna, collected a hire car and set off towards the Czech Republic.
The Badgers Tour of 2025 was officially underway.
The Czech Assassin
Their destination was near Zlín, where their host Jan had arranged the first of two evenings of table tennis.
After settling into their woodland accommodation, the Badgers collected Jan and headed towards the venue.
There was, however, an immediate problem.
Navigation.
Despite possessing a perfectly functional satellite navigation system, Jan appeared determined to contradict it at almost every opportunity.
The sat nav suggested one direction. Jan confidently recommended the opposite.
Apparently, he knew the roads better.
The three Englishmen exchanged increasingly suspicious glances as their host directed them through unfamiliar territory. They'd come for a friendly international sporting exchange. There was now a small but growing concern that they were being kidnapped.
Fortunately, Jan's local knowledge proved trustworthy, and the Badgers arrived safely at their destination.
A small village hall. Electronic scoreboards. A group of enthusiastic Czech table tennis players.
And enough hospitality to make the visitors feel immediately at home.
International Relations and the Oxford Doctor
The Czech hosts couldn't have been more welcoming.
They had prepared a fantastic evening of table tennis, complete with something rather unexpected.
Strong spirits.
Jan had brought along some particularly special bottles, apparently involving different family recipes handed down through the generations. His father and grandfather may have had competing claims to producing the finest concoction.
Naturally, some comparative research was required.
There was just one problem.
Nick doesn't drink. Craig doesn't drink.
Which left one remaining member of the touring party.
Dr Dominic Barker. Oxford University.
A man of considerable academic achievement, now unexpectedly responsible for maintaining international relations through the consumption of Czech spirits.
The Doctor accepted his diplomatic posting.
The Czech players, meanwhile, appeared entirely comfortable enjoying refreshments between games. It was a fascinating introduction to international sporting culture.
As for the table tennis, the standard was excellent, the atmosphere wonderfully friendly and Jan was in absolutely no mood to surrender victories to his guests.
He won all three of his matches.
The Czech Assassin had announced himself.
After a fantastic evening, the Badgers dropped Jan home before retreating to their cabin.
And what a cabin it was.
The Haunted Cabin
Nestled among the trees, their accommodation was a beautiful wooden retreat with forest views, outdoor relaxation areas and even a sauna.
The sleeping arrangements, however, suggested that whoever designed the place had a rather unconventional understanding of health and safety.
El Capitan found himself allocated a tiny sleeping space tucked beneath the roof. Somewhere between a bedroom and Harry Potter's cupboard.
The Doctor's accommodation was arguably more concerning.
To reach his sleeping quarters, Dom had to scale a vertical ladder to a small elevated landing, where the only thing separating him from an unscheduled arrival on the kitchen floor was a strategically positioned piece of netting.
A grown man, sleeping in what appeared to be an oversized cat hammock.
One wrong move and breakfast could have been served with a side of Doctor.
Craig, meanwhile, had developed an entirely different concern.
Czech ghosts.
The Postman insisted on leaving his bedroom door open, apparently believing this would offer some protection against a potential paranormal attack.
Quite why an open door would discourage a ghost remains one of the great unanswered questions of the tour.
So there they were. One Badger in a cupboard. One suspended above the kitchen. And one preparing for a supernatural encounter.
Three grown men. International sporting representatives. The pride of Bugbrooke.
Fortunately, everyone survived.
And as the evenings unfolded, the cabin became the setting for something rather special: cards, laughter, ridiculous conversations and an extraordinary number of games of Go Fish.
The sort of shared nonsense that doesn't sound particularly remarkable when you describe it, but somehow becomes the stuff everyone remembers years later.
The brotherhood of the Badgers was growing stronger. Even if their accommodation arrangements left something to be desired.
Round Two
The following day began at a more leisurely pace.
That afternoon, the Badgers collected Jan again, ready for another evening of international table tennis, this time against a different group at a different venue.
Once again, the welcome was exceptional.
Different players, another enjoyable evening and the same generosity that had made the first night so memorable.
Jan had gone out of his way to arrange everything. There was nothing complicated about it: no grand sporting organisation, no commercial arrangement and no expectation of anything in return.
Just someone who loved table tennis and was happy to share it with people visiting from another country.
Afterwards, Jan recommended an Indian restaurant in Zlín.
An excellent choice. So excellent, in fact, that the Badgers ate enough to eliminate any realistic possibility of further evening entertainment.
Jan probably had more adventures planned, but three thoroughly well-fed Englishmen had reached the limits of their operational capacity.
And so came the goodbyes.
Two brilliant evenings of table tennis, wonderful hospitality and a new friendship that had started with a simple message online.
Jan had been an extraordinary host.
But the Badgers still had several nights of European adventure ahead.
And El Capitan had an itinerary. A substantial itinerary.
Three Badgers Versus European Culture
First stop: Bratislava.
A picturesque old town, historic buildings and a magnificent castle overlooking the Danube. For Nick, another opportunity to experience European history. For Dom, precisely the sort of cultural excursion he'd been looking forward to.
For Craig, a castle located at the top of a very inconvenient hill.
While Nick and Dom made their way towards the summit, The Postman sensibly elected to remain at a more manageable altitude.
It was during these adventures that a remarkable characteristic of Craig's travelling technique became apparent: regardless of the distance, terrain or duration of a walk, he maintained an almost perfect two-metre gap behind his companions.
A level of positional discipline rarely witnessed outside professional sport.
From Bratislava, the Badgers continued to Budapest, with its spectacular views of the Danube, magnificent Parliament Building and enough historic architecture to keep The Doctor thoroughly entertained.
The sightseeing also offered Dom an opportunity to exercise his authority when Craig decided to touch a museum exhibit.
The Postman was promptly told off. By a Doctor. An Oxford Doctor, no less.
Craig accepted the reprimand, although quite what Dom's doctorate had to do with museum etiquette remained unclear. The Doctor was happy to clarify that his qualifications were entirely relevant.
He would know. He has a PhD from Oxford University.
A fact that, remarkably, had somehow come up in conversation before.
One thing was becoming increasingly clear: the three Badgers had rather different definitions of an ideal holiday.
Nick wanted to see everything. Dom appreciated the history. Craig loved a good zoo.
Unfortunately, despite visiting four countries, the group somehow managed to visit precisely zero zoos.
An administrative failure of considerable proportions.
Nick, meanwhile, had packed enough Patagonia clothing to equip a small expedition to the Himalayas. Not that he'd ever felt the need to justify his wardrobe choices.
After all, Patagonia comes with a lifetime warranty.
Didn't you know?
Dom certainly did. He'd heard that particular observation more than once, and rarely missed an opportunity to repeat it back to El Capitan.
A lifetime warranty on the clothes, admittedly. Not on the people forced to endure the itinerary.
Austria's War on the Badgers
The next leg took the group into Austria.
First came Eisenstadt, a charming town where the Badgers discovered that visiting on a Sunday meant much of the local economy had apparently decided to take the day off.
Nevertheless, the impressive Esterházy Palace and its beautiful gardens provided another opportunity for cultural enrichment.
Then came Lake Neusiedl.
And the lighthouse.
Ah, the lighthouse.
For the modest sum of €9, the Badgers discovered they could enjoy a walk of approximately 50 metres to admire a small lighthouse, in an area that, as far as they could establish, could otherwise be enjoyed for free.
Nine euros. Fifty metres. One lighthouse.
El Capitan was not impressed.
Austria had already demonstrated a remarkable enthusiasm for unexpected charges, but this particular transaction felt like a masterpiece of tourist economics.
The experience was immortalised in the holiday video as a visit to the “impotent lighthouse of Austria”.
Not quite the Eiffel Tower. But considerably more likely to become a long-running Badgers joke.
Vienna: One Final Cultural Assault
The final day brought the touring party to Vienna, one of Europe's greatest cultural capitals, renowned for magnificent palaces, stunning architecture and apparently complete lack of convenient parking.
After what felt like several thousand attempts to find somewhere to leave the car, the Badgers eventually set off towards Belvedere Palace.
Surely, after all the travelling and cultural exertion, this would be the architectural highlight they'd been promised.
And it might have been, had much of the building not been covered in scaffolding.
Where its magnificent façade should have been, there was instead a giant printed image demonstrating what visitors could have enjoyed under more favourable circumstances.
Austria had struck again.
Undeterred, the Badgers continued exploring Vienna, taking in grand squares, historic buildings and an impressive cathedral.
By the time they reached the airport, six nights of international adventure were drawing to a close.
It was time for the traditional post-tour interviews.
The Final Verdict
El Capitan approached his exhausted travelling companions for their closing thoughts.
Craig was suitably positive. He'd enjoyed the trip immensely and couldn't wait to get home and continue the walking.
The Doctor was similarly enthusiastic about the holiday, although considerably less impressed with his own table tennis.
Asked to identify his personal highlight, Dom initially refused to reveal it on camera — an answer that raised considerably more questions than it settled.
Eventually, he identified an incident shortly after arriving in Austria, when the group's fearless international captain had informed a foreign person:
“No English.”
A masterclass in cross-cultural communication.
The Badgers had travelled through four countries, played two nights of international table tennis, explored beautiful cities, survived a potentially haunted cabin and paid an entirely unreasonable amount of money to look at a lighthouse.
They'd also played enough Go Fish to qualify for a second international sporting tour.
But somewhere between the matches, the castles, the questionable navigation and the endless banter, they'd experienced something rather more valuable.
More Than a Game
The entire adventure had started with a message on TableTennisDaily.
Three English table tennis players wanted to go on tour. Jan saw the message and offered to help.
He welcomed them, organised two fantastic evenings of table tennis, introduced them to his friends and treated them with extraordinary kindness.
And the experience left an impression.
If one person, simply through generosity and a shared love of table tennis, could create an experience like that, what might be possible on a bigger scale?
A year later, in September 2026, the answer began to take shape in Düsseldorf.
The positive experience in Czechia — and Jan's generosity in particular — helped inspire Nick to organise an international gathering of table tennis players from different countries, many of whom had never previously met in person.
The idea was simple: bring people together through the sport they love, give them the opportunity to play and let the friendships develop naturally.
In many ways, it was the same spirit of hospitality Jan had shown the Badgers in Czechia, just on a larger scale.
And, naturally, the Czech Assassin was there.
Not content with helping inspire the event, Jan proceeded to win the round-robin competition.
Apparently, his generosity still didn't extend to giving away matches.
Looking back, the original Badgers tour was about much more than the two evenings spent playing table tennis. The sightseeing, the laughter and the time together were equally important.
But none of it would have happened in quite the same way without one generous Czech player who was prepared to welcome three visitors from England.
It makes you wonder how many other friendships, tours and adventures are waiting to happen.
How many other Jans are out there?
People who share the same passion, would happily welcome visitors and could turn a few games of table tennis into memories that last for years.
Sometimes all it takes is someone willing to reach out.
And someone else willing to say yes.
Just remember to check the price before visiting the lighthouse.
— The Clubhouse Chronicles