Waldemar Fritsch (table tennis player)
Waldemar Fritsch (* 1923 ; † May 15, 2008 in Bregenz ) was an Austrian table tennis player . He was one of the best players in Austria in the 1940s and 1950s.
Table tennis
Fritsch achieved success in national tournaments, such as the Vorarlberg and Tyrolean championships, and won the international championship of Belgium. From 1950 to 1952 he led the Austrian rankings in first place. Until 1951 he played at the Turnerschaft Innsbruck club, after which he moved to black and white Bregenz. During his studies in Innsbruck he was active again at the local association and in 1960 he returned to Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz.
Fritsch caused a worldwide sensation at the 1951 World Cup in Vienna. Here he competed with a table tennis bat , which he had covered with foam rubber (sponge) instead of the usual pimple rubber. With this racket he won all games in team competition, including against József Kóczián , Ferenc Sidó and Vilim Harangozo . As a result, Fritsch was ranked 9th in the ITTF world rankings .
In 1987 Fritsch ended his active career.
However, as is often claimed, Fritsch was not the inventor of the sponge covering. Rather, Ivor Montagu used a similar rubber ("sponge-line bat") at the 1926 World Cup .
additional
In addition to table tennis, Fritsch also played other sports. In the 1950s, for example, he played football for the club Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz in the highest Austrian national league.
Results from the ITTF database
| Association | event | year | place | country | singles | Double | Mixed | team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUT | World Championship | 1951 | Vienna | AUT | last 16 | last 32 | last 64 | 13 |
swell
- Contribution to the TT-Verein Bregenz (accessed on January 13, 2016)
- Lifetime Achievement (PDF file; 1.87 MB)
- 1951 sponge bat for the first time (accessed October 9, 2012)
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.vn.vol.at/webvn/2008-05-21/Todesbeispiel.php
- ↑ DTS magazine , 1951/19 issue West-Süd p. 3
- ↑ Austrian Table Tennis Show 1966/05 (accessed on March 11, 2011; PDF; 3.0 MB)
- ↑ History of the table tennis club SW Bregenz (accessed on October 9, 2012)
- ↑ The Table Tennis Collector Issue 46, p. 5 ( PDF )
- ↑ DTS magazine , 1954/16 p. 4
- ↑ Waldemar Fritsch (table tennis player) Results from the ITTF database on ittf.com (accessed on September 6, 2011)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Fritsch, Waldemar |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Austrian table tennis player |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1923 |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 15, 2008 |
| Place of death | Bregenz |