Background
Barna was born on August 24 in Budapest, Hungary.
Barna was born on August 24 in Budapest, Hungary.
Barna played his first game of table tennis in 1924 at a bar mitzvah party in Budapest.
Between 1929 and 1939 Barna used his extraordinary talent to win five singles, eight doubles, and two mixed doubles world titles and helped Hungary win the Swaythling Cup, the world team championship, seven times.
Barna suffered a broken playing arm in 1935 in an automobile accident and never won a world singles title again. Out of competition for a year after doctors told him he would never play again, he underwent an operation that enabled him to resume his career in 1936. The following year Barna moved to England and became a British citizen.
Barna quit competitive table tennis in the 1950s and became an executive in a sporting goods company.
Quotations: During World War II Barna’s younger brother was murdered by Hungarian fascists. Speaking of this tragedy, Barna said, “Imagine, he won the Hungarian title, he followed in my footsteps, he had a great future in table tennis, and they killed him. I wish the people could have saved him, and not my trophies.” He went on to explain how his neighbors had hidden his valuable collection during the Nazi takeover and had returned it to him after the war ended.
Quotes from others about the person
A fellow Hungarian, Sandor Glancz, recalled that he and Barna toured the world giving exhibitions and that “Barna was a champion on and off the table, and because of him the game enjoyed its highest popularity.”
“I remember him as a scrawny little kid,” Glancz said, “he developed into the greatest player of all time. He had every stroke in the book and knew how to use them. He was fast and intelligent and he could make a losing game turn into a winning one by changing his game completely. Of course, his famous backhand flip will always be remembered. Because of him the Hungarians controlled the game of table tennis for ten years.”
“Victor brought table tennis to a disbelieving world,” the president of the International Table Tennis Federation said, “and never after him was there a person who did not say ‘Victor Barna’ when ping pong really became translated into table tennis.”