Table tennis world championship 1939

Table tennis world championship
1938 ← WM 1939 → 1947
date	March 6-11, 1939
venue	Cairo
winner
Single (♂)	Richard Bergmann
Single (♀)	Vlasta Depetrisová
Double (♂)	Victor Barna Richard Bergmann
Double (♀)	Hilde Bussmann Trude Pritzi
Doubles (mixed)	Bohumil Váňa Věra Votrubcová
Team (♂)	Czechoslovakia
Team (♀)	German Empire

The 13th table tennis world championship took place from March 6th to 11th, 1939 in Cairo ( Egypt ). For the first time it was held outside of Europe. At the same time it was the last world championship before the Second World War .

Title winners were Czechoslovakia in the men's teams, Germany in the women's teams, Richard Bergmann (ENG) and Vlasta Depetrisová (TCH) in the singles, Victor Barna / Richard Bergmann (ENG) and Hilde Bussmann / Trude Pritzi (Germany) in the doubles and Bohumil Váňa / Věra Votrubcová (TCH) in mixed.

Overview

The sport of table tennis had taken a certain boom in Egypt in recent years. As early as 1937 and 1938, the country sent a team to the table tennis world championships. Now the national coach had signed Alex Ehrlich from Poland . Much effort was put into preparing for the World Cup in their own country. The preliminary round was played in the Palais de la Société Royal d'Agriculture, the final finally took place in the exhibition hall of the Foudavag University in the Cairo suburb of Heliopolis . The last games in the men's singles were moved to the Cairo Opera House , where the Egyptian King Faruq sometimes watched.

After Austria was annexed to Germany, strong “ Greater German ” teams should compete. The men did not register because the Austrians Richard Bergmann (emigrated to England) and Alfred Liebster were not available. In contrast, the women with Hilde Bussmann and Trude Pritzi were able to provide a very strong team.

In addition to the German men's team, the teams from Hungary and the USA were missing for political or cost reasons. The following nations took part for the first time: Greece (men), Palestine (men and women), Luxembourg (men and women). So this world championship was weak. A total of around 50 Egyptians and another 50 players from 13 nations took part. Eleven men's and five women's teams competed in the team competition.

The emigrants were not allowed to be used in the teams, they could only start in the singles and doubles competitions. Richard Bergmann (England, previously Austria) and Victor Barna (England, previously Hungary) were affected .

The good placements of some Egyptians can be partly explained by the “benevolent” draw of the organizers: In the singles and doubles competitions, draws were made in such a way that the locals only had to compete late against strong foreign opponents.

useful information

• Because of the high temperatures, shorts were socially acceptable as playing clothes for the first time.
• After a 3-0 defeat in their first game against Egypt, the women's team of Palestine stopped playing.

Results

competition	rank	winner
Team men	1.	Czechoslovakia ( Václav Tereba , Bohumil Váňa , Miloslav Hamer , Rudolf Karlecek)
	2.	Yugoslavia (Ladislav Hexner, Žarko Dolinar , Tibor Harangozo , Max Marinko , Adolf Herskovic)
	3.	England ( Ken Hyde , Hyman Lurie, Ken Stanley , Ernest Bubley , Arthur Wilmott)
Team women	1.	Germany ( Hilde Bussmann , Trude Pritzi ; team captains: P. Steffenhagen)
	2.	Czechoslovakia ( Vlasta Depetrisová , Marie Kettnerová , Věra Votrubcová )
	3.	Romania ( Sari Szasz-Kolosvary , Angelica Adelstein-Rozeanu )
Men's singles	1.	Richard Bergmann - ENG
	2.	Aloizy Ehrlich - POL
	3.	Žarko Dolinar - YUG
	3.	Bohumil Váňa - TCH
Ladies singles	1.	Vlasta Depetrisová - TCH
	2.	Trude Pritzi - AUT
	3.	Samiha Naihi - EGY
	3.	Marie Kettnerová - TCH
Men's doubles	1.	Victor Barna / Richard Bergmann - ENG
	2.	Miloslav Hamer - TCH / Josef Tartakower - LUX
	3.	Raoul Bedoc / Michel Haguenauer - FRA
	3.	Hyman Lurie / Ken Hyde - ENG
Ladies doubles	1.	Hilde Bussmann / Trude Pritzi - GER
	2.	Angelica Adelstein-Rozeanu / Sari Szasz-Kolosvary - ROM
	3.	Věra Votrubcová / Vlasta Depetrisová - TCH
	3.	Samiha Naili - EGY / Marie Kettnerová - TCH
Mixed	1.	Bohumil Váňa / Věra Votrubcová - TCH
	2.	Václav Tereba / Marie Kettnerová - TCH
	3.	Marcel Geargoura - EGY / Hilde Bussmann - GER
	3.	Mansour Helmy - EGY / Trude Pritzi - AUT

Medal table

rank	country	gold	silver	bronze	total
1	Czechoslovakia	3	2.5	3.5	9
2	England	2	0	2	4th
3	German Empire	2	0	0.5	2.5
4th	Romania	0	1	1	2
4th	Yugoslavia	0	1	1	2
6th	Austria	0	1	0.5	1.5
7th	Poland	0	1	0	1
8th	Luxembourg	0	0.5	0	0.5
9	Egypt	0	0	2.5	2.5
10	France	0	0	1	1
Total		7th	7th	12	25th

literature

• German Table Tennis Association - 50 years young . Published by the German Table Tennis Association DTTB , 1975 - Chapter Great moments of the German Table Tennis Association by Hanne and Jupp Schlaf , pp. III – V

Web links

• Entry in ITTF database

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Often - also in the ITTF database - the name is given as "Hamr". In Czech sources, however, the spelling "Hamer" can be found: film database , ping-pong