The Sussex Open Grand Prix, the oldest tournament in Sussex, is in danger of extinction.

The county's appeals to all Sussex leagues for an organiser of the 65-year old tournament met with no response.

At a meeting of the Sussex Table Tennis Association at Patcham, it was suggested that the word organiser had frightened people into thinking it is a huge task.

Sussex president Bill Goldfinch said: "This is not the case. To save the event, which cannot be allowed to die, we need a small committee of three. We have Doreen Nightingale, who will handle the entries via the English Table Tennis Association office, the chairman himself has volunteered and so we need one other person."

Crawley stalwart Stan Wiley indicated if the tournament was at Crawley Leisure Centre then the Crawley league would fill the vacant slot.

The tournament is unlikely to be held at Hastings again as the hall is too small. Sixteen tables is the minimum requirement.

Meanwhile, three former champions will miss the All-Sussex championships on March 3.

Adrian Moore, Teresa Bennett and Sally Westonare are all on holiday, so this improves the chances of two younger players like Sarah Stedman (Arundel) and Sara Coggon (Hastings).