Viktor Barna (original) (raw)

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Table tennis player (1911–1972)

Viktor Barna
Nationality Hungarian, English
Born Győző Braun(1911-08-24)24 August 1911Budapest, Austria-Hungary
Died 27 February 1972(1972-02-27) (aged 60)Lima, Peru
Medal record Men's table tennis Representing Hungary World Championships Gold medal – first place 1929 Budapest Doubles Gold medal – first place 1929 Budapest Team Gold medal – first place 1930 Berlin Singles Gold medal – first place 1930 Berlin Doubles Gold medal – first place 1930 Berlin Team Gold medal – first place 1931 Budapest Doubles Gold medal – first place 1931 Budapest Team Gold medal – first place 1932 Prague Singles Gold medal – first place 1932 Prague Doubles Gold medal – first place 1932 Prague Mixed doubles Gold medal – first place 1933 Baden Singles Gold medal – first place 1933 Baden Doubles Gold medal – first place 1933 Baden Team Gold medal – first place 1934 Paris Singles Gold medal – first place 1934 Paris Doubles Gold medal – first place 1934 Paris Team Gold medal – first place 1935 Wembley Singles Gold medal – first place 1935 Wembley Doubles Gold medal – first place 1935 Wembley Mixed doubles Gold medal – first place 1935 Wembley Team Gold medal – first place 1938 Wembley Team Silver medal – second place 1931 Budapest Singles Silver medal – second place 1931 Budapest Mixed doubles Silver medal – second place 1932 Prague Team Silver medal – second place 1934 Paris Mixed doubles Silver medal – second place 1937 Baden Team Silver medal – second place 1938 Wembley Doubles Bronze medal – third place 1930 Berlin Mixed doubles Bronze medal – third place 1933 Baden Mixed doubles Bronze medal – third place 1936 Prague Team Bronze medal – third place 1938 Wembley Singles Representing England World Championships Gold medal – first place 1939 Cairo Doubles Silver medal – second place 1954 Wembley Doubles Bronze medal – third place 1947 Paris Doubles Bronze medal – third place 1947 Paris Mixed doubles Bronze medal – third place 1948 Wembley Doubles Bronze medal – third place 1949 Stockholm Team Bronze medal – third place 1952 Bombay Doubles Bronze medal – third place 1952 Bombay Mixed doubles Bronze medal – third place 1953 Bucharest Doubles Bronze medal – third place 1954 Wembley Mixed doubles

Viktor Győző Barna (born Győző Braun; 24 August 1911 – 27 February 1972) was a Hungarian and British champion table tennis player as well as a record five times singles World Champion.[1]

He won 41 World Championship medals (including 22 gold medals) and also won 20 English Open titles.

Barna's birth name was Győző Braun, but because of anti-Semitism in Hungary at the time, he changed his name to a Hungarian-sounding name. In September 1939, during the outbreak of the Second World War, he and his wife were in America. Barna returned to Europe, in order to fight against the Nazis. He joined the British army as a parachutist, and fought in Yugoslavia. After the British withdrew from Yugoslavia, Barna remained in England. After the war he settled with his wife in London. He became a British national in 1952. Later he became a representative for the Dunlop Sports Company and continued traveling the world in this capacity. It was during one of these tours in 1972 that he succumbed to a heart attack in Lima, Peru.

His brother Tibor Barna was the 1940 Hungarian table tennis national champion.[2]

In 1957, he published the book "How to Win at Table Tennis" (London: Pitman) ISBN 978-0-273-41699-9.[3] Then, in 1962, he published the book Table Tennis Today (London: Arthur Barker) and in 1971 Your Book of Table Tennis ISBN 978-0-571-09345-8.

Barna, who was Jewish, was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1981.

Barna was inducted into the International Table Tennis Foundation Hall of Fame in 1993.[4]

  1. ^ Table Tennis. Time Magazine. 4 February 1935
  2. ^ "The History of Sport and Physical Education among the Jewish People in Hungary in the Last 120 Years". ISOH.
  3. ^ Amazon
  4. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 June 2011. Retrieved 29 December 2008.{{[cite web](/wiki/Template:Cite%5Fweb "Template:Cite web")}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)