Percival Bromfield

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Percival Bromfield (born April 1886 in Birmingham , † 1947 in Poplar ) was an English table tennis player . He was a participant in the first world championship and is considered the inventor of the rubber flooring for table tennis bats, with which he practiced the backhand flick as an attack blow. He also mastered the topspin .

Career

In the early 1900s, Bromfield covered his racket with a rubber coating. As a result, he increased ball control and thus his playing strength.

National successes

As a result, he successfully took part in numerous tournaments with his brother in London. In 1904/05 he won the National English Championship ("All England Ping Ping Association Cup"). He succeeded again in 1923/24. 1921/22 he was defeated in the semifinals to the eventual winner Donaldson. 1923/24 he retired from the championship of Middlesex in the semifinals against Prashant N. Nanda . In the same year he lost to the same opponent in the final of the London championship (Indian Students Hostel).

International success

From 1923 to 1926 he played four times against Wales with an English selection.

In 1926 he represented England at the first World Table Tennis Championships , which was held in London. Here he was the oldest participant. With the English team he reached 3rd place. In the individual competition he was defeated by the German Hans-Georg Lindenstaedt with 1: 3. In doubles he played with Lionel Farris. This double won in the first round against Charles Allwright / William J. Pope, but then retired against the later second Zoltán Mechlovits / Bela von Kehrling (Hungary). In mixed he competed with Mrs. Bromfield (possibly his daughter, see below). Against the eventual winners Zoltán Mechlovits / Mária Mednyánszky (Hungary) they lost 2-0.

official

In 1921, Bromfield was one of the co-founders of the English table tennis association Ping-Pong Association (PPA) , which was re-established in 1922 as the Table Tennis Association (TTA) . Here he acted as President and Finance Director (Vice President).

Private

Percival Bromfields grew up in the London boroughs of Chiswick and Hornsey . He was a manufacturer of clothing by profession. In 1911 he married Lillian E. Woodruff, with her he had a daughter named Valerie, who also played table tennis successfully. So she won the English championship in 1930/31. According to the ITTF database, a "Valerie Bromfield" took part in the 1926 World Cup. It could have been Percival Bromfield's daughter, especially since he played mixed with her. Percival Bromfield's younger brother Donald Arthur (* 1885, † 1915) was also active in table tennis.

Results from the ITTF database

Association event year place country singles Double Mixed team
CLOSELY  World Championship  1926  London  CLOSELY   last 64  last 16  Quarter finals  3

swell

  • Portrait - The Table Tennis Collector 67 p. 23 ( PDF )
  • The Table Tennis Collector 33 p. 12 ( PDF )
  • The Table Tennis Collector 34 p. 3 ( PDF )
  • Report by Percival Bromfield - The Table Tennis Collector 35 p. 13 ( PDF )
  • The Table Tennis Collector 42 p. 10 ( PDF )

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Place of birth = Beckenham according to the ITTF Museum archive (accessed April 19, 2014)
  2. ↑ Valerie Bromfield
  3. ^ Percival Bromfield results from the ITTF database on ittf.com (accessed September 4, 2011)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Bromfield, Percival
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bromfield, John Percival
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English table tennis player
DATE OF BIRTH April 1886
PLACE OF BIRTH Birmingham
DATE OF DEATH 1947
Place of death Poplar