Richard Bergmann

Richard Bergmann (born in 1920 in Vienna, Austria, died in 1970) was an Austrian and British table tennis player.

Winner of seven World Championships, including four Singles crowns, Bergmann was regarded as the greatest defensive player in table tennis history.

In 1936 he won his first World title as a member of the Austrian Swaythling Cup (Men’s World Championship) Team.

He won his first World Singles Championship one year later. and in doing so became the youngest player ever to win the title.

When the Nazis invaded Austria in 1938, Bergmann fled to England. In 1939, he won his second World Singles crown and the World Doubles title, pairing with Viktor Barna. Following World War II, he reclaimed his title in 1948 as World Singles Champion, and again in 1950. His last World Championship came as a member of the 1953 English Swaythling Cup Team.

In the mid-1950s, Bergmann became the world’s first professional table tennis player and toured extensively with the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team.

Halls of Fame

He was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1982.

Bergmann was inducted into the International Table Tennis Foundation Hall of Fame in 1993. [http://www.ittf.com/museum/HallofFame.pdf]

Link

* [http://www.jewishsports.net/BioPages/RichardBergmann.htm Jewish Sports bio]