At this particular event TIBHAR set up a showcourt table for the first time. After that many table tennis brands adopted the showcourt concept also. Erwin and Roland came up with this idea after assisting the Pro Tour finals 1997 between Vladi and Wang Liqin in Hong Kong. The match was broadcasted on TV. A missed ball rolled underneath the spectators’ tribune. At this time, table tennis was played only with one ball per match and the players had to look for the ball until they found it. This took some time and showed a bad image on TV. Erwin Berg had then the idea to conceive a table and surrounds which would be completely closed and made from a hard material. He started to build a prototype of the showcourt table in his garage. The top of the table was removed from its usual undercarriage and placed on four pieces of Plexiglas. He added blue TIBHAR logos and LED lights under the frame and the result was just fabulous! It took four persons to put the table top onto its frame, because the whole top was made of one piece and not two anymore. In addition, he built the first type of B-Boards, which are used everywhere now. As he was very comfortable with this project, he put the Plexiglas pieces in his car and drove all the way from Germany to Zagreb. Upon his arrival he talked to the organizers who approved his idea. He set up the table. If you did not stand right in front of the table, you could think that the table top was floating. Not only did the table look really good, but it offered the advantage that no ball could roll underneath its structure. The B boards also built a barrier around the court, avoid any ball to roll out of the box. These two concepts had an obvious impact on table tennis. Ever since, showcourt tables play an important role in almost every large tournament.
