Richard Bergmann

Richard Bergmann
Full name	BERGMANN Richard
Nationality	England Austria
Medal record Men's table tennis Competitor for England World Championships Bronze 1955 Utrecht Team Bronze 1954 Wembley Singles Bronze 1954 Wembley Team Silver 1953 Bucharest Doubles Gold 1953 Bucharest Team Silver 1952 Bombay Doubles Silver 1952 Bombay Team Gold 1950 Budapest Singles Bronze 1950 Budapest Team Bronze 1949 Stockholm Doubles Bronze 1949 Stockholm Team Gold 1948 Wembley Singles Bronze 1948 Wembley Doubles Bronze 1948 Wembley Mixed Doubles Gold 1939 Cairo Singles Gold 1939 Cairo Doubles Competitor for Austria World Championships Silver 1938 Wembley Singles Silver 1938 Wembley Team Gold 1937 Baden Singles Silver 1937 Baden Doubles Bronze 1936 Prague Singles Gold 1936 Prague Team

Richard Bergmann (born 10 April 1919 in Vienna, Austria, died in 1970) was an Austrian and British table tennis player. Winner of seven World Championships, including four Singles, one Men's Doubles, two Team's titles and 22 medals in total.

Tennis career

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 Championships) 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 represented England and won his second World Singles crown and the World Men's Doubles title, pairing with Viktor Barna.

The World Championships was canceled from 1940 to 1946. The first World Championships after World War II was held in Paris, 1947. As a defending Men’s Singles Champion, Bergmann was not allowed to participate because he played exhibitions for money without the required permissions during the war years. He went to Paris and paraded along the venue with a sign, claiming to be the true World Champion and challenging anyone to a match for £500.

In the following years, 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., and was later inducted into the International Table Tennis Foundation Hall of Fame in 1993 as one of twelve founding members.

See also

• List of select Jewish table tennis players

External links

• International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame