László Bellák

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László "Laci" Bellák (born February 11, 1911 in Budapest , † September 20, 2006 in Miami , Florida ) was a Hungarian and American table tennis player . He won a total of seven gold medals at world championships in the late 1920s and 1930s.

Hungary

Bellák started playing table tennis at the age of 13. Simultaneously with Miklós Szabados and his friend Victor Barna he increased his playing strength. In professional circles, this trio was also called the three musketeers . With the Nemzeti Sport Club he won the Hungarian team championship in 1928.

In 1928 he was nominated for the World Championship in Stockholm. Here he reached the singles final, which he lost to his compatriot Zoltán Mechlovits . With Sándor Glancz he made it to the semi-finals in doubles, with the Hungarian team he won gold. Bellák took part in ten world championships from 1928 to 1938. He was world champion once in mixed and six times with the team. He won silver three times in singles, three times in doubles, once in mixed and twice with the Hungarian team.

Bellák liked to garnish his game with popular show performances. Critics said that this prevented even greater success. In a team with Miklós Szabados and Victor Barna , and often with Sándor Glancz, he organized show tournaments all over the world in order to make table tennis more popular.

Bellák lived in Berlin from 1931 to 1932. Here he earned his living as a trainer and as an employee in the Nathan Israel department store .

United States

In 1938 Bellák moved to the United States because of his Jewish origins. Here he had already won the open championships in 1937 and 1938. In the following years he won another 23 titles at American championships.

During the Second World War he volunteered for five years in the American Army, which deployed him mainly in India and Burma. He lived in Australia in the early 1950s.

He achieved international success at senior world championships . Here he won gold twice in doubles, namely in 1982 with Christian Juhl (Denmark) in the over 70 age group and in 1992 with Jenkins (England) in the over 80 class.

Other activities

In 1950 he founded Bellak Color Corporation , which was active in the field of lithography . In 1979 he left this company to increasingly take part in senior tournaments. In 1990 he wrote the book Table Tennis — How A New Sport Was Born - The History of the Hungarian Team Winning 73 Gold Medals .

Awards

Bellák was inducted into the respective Hall of Fame by several organizations :

successes

  • World championships
    • 1928 in Stockholm
      • Singles second place, doubles with Sándor Glancz semi-finals, victory with the team
    • 1929 in Budapest
      • Doubles with Sándor Glancz second place, mixed with Magda Gál second place
    • 1930 in Berlin
      • Singles second place, doubles with Sándor Glancz semi-finals, victory with the team
    • 1931 in Budapest
      • Mixed with Marta Komaromi (Hungary) semi-finals, victory with the team
    • 1932 in Prague
      • Doubles with Sándor Glancz second place, team second place
    • 1934 in Paris
      • Individual second place, mixed with Kathleen Berry (England), semifinals, victory with the team
    • 1935 at Wembley
    • 1936 in Prague
      • Third place with the team
    • 1937 in Baden (Austria)
      • Second place with the team
    • 1938 at Wembley
  • Senior World Championships
    • 1982 in Gothenburg
      • Over 70: doubles with Christian Juhl (Denmark)
    • 1992 in Dublin
      • Over 80: doubles with Jenkins (England)
  • International German Championships
    • 1926/27 singles place two, doubles with Sándor Glancz place two, victory in mixed with Mona Rüster
    • 1927/28 victory in doubles with Sándor Glancz
    • 1930/31 singles place two, doubles with Charles Bull (England) place three, mixed with Mona Rüster place two
    • 1931/32 singles place three, doubles with István Boros place two, mixed with Hedwig (Germany) place four
  • Open English championships
  • Victories at the Hungarian National Championships
  • Hungarian team championship
    • Victory with Nemzeti Sport Club

Results from the ITTF database

Association event year place country singles Double Mixed team
HUN  World Championship  1938  Wembley  CLOSELY   last 64  silver  gold  1
HUN  World Championship  1937  to bathe  AUT   last 64  Quarter finals  last 16  2
HUN  World Championship  1936  Prague  TCH   last 16  Quarter finals  last 16  3
HUN  World Championship  1935  Wembley  CLOSELY   Quarter finals  Semifinals  last 16  1
HUN  World Championship  1934  Paris  FRA   silver  Quarter finals  Semifinals  1
HUN  World Championship  1932  Prague  TCH   last 32  silver  Quarter finals  2
HUN  World Championship  1931  Budapest  HUN   last 32  Quarter finals  Semifinals  1
HUN  World Championship  1930  Berlin  FRG   silver  Semifinals  Quarter finals  1
HUN  World Championship  1929  Budapest  HUN   last 64  silver  silver   
HUN  World Championship  1928  Stockholm  SWE   silver  Semifinals  Scratched  1

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ World Championship Table Tennis Memorabilia (accessed May 28, 2018)
  2. ↑ Ian Stennard: THE WAY IT WAS ... (accessed September 25, 2012)
  3. ↑ Hungarian Team Championships ( Memento from October 20, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (accessed on September 25, 2012; PDF; 137 kB)
  4. ↑ page 9 (accessed on July 29, 2010) (PDF; 2.8 MB)
  5. ↑ DTS magazine , 1997/9 page 13
  6. ↑ a b ROBO PONG REVIEW BLOG ( Memento from March 4, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (accessed on January 23, 2016)
  7. ↑ Magazine DTS , 1951/20 Page 2
  8. ↑ http://www.ittf.com/museum/HallofFame.pdf (accessed on July 29, 2010)
  9. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original dated February 24, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed on July 29, 2010) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.swfloridatabletennis.com
  10. ↑ Manfred Schäfer: A game for life. 75 years of DTTB. (1925-2000) . Published by the German Table Tennis Association DTTB , Frankfurt am Main 2000, ISBN 3-00-005890-7 , pages 133-137
  11. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original dated October 2, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed on July 29, 2010) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.magyar.sport.hu
  12. ↑ László Bellák Results from the ITTF database on ittf.com (accessed September 4, 2011)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Bellák, László
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bellák, Laci (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Hungarian and American table tennis player
DATE OF BIRTH February 11, 1911
PLACE OF BIRTH Budapest
DATE OF DEATH September 20, 2006
Place of death Miami , Florida