The Table Tennis 53 - ITTF

We have seen this style medal before (issue 43), but
this heavy medal was witness to the tragic defaults of both
women’s singles finalists, Ruth Aarons (USA) and Trude
Pritzi (AUT) in the 1937 World Championships, because of
the new timelimit rule. The title was declared vacant,
unprecedented in all of World Championship history.
This medal is of special interest, as D. III is for women’s
(Damen) singles, 3rd place, shared by Kettnerova (CZE)
and Bussmann (GER), the highest survivors after the
unfortunate defaults.
Young Ruth Aarons never returned to the World Championship
arena as a result of this fiasco. ITTF President
Hon. Ivor Montagu regarded the rule as “thoroughly bad.”
Master historian Tim Boggan, in his monumental History
of U.S. Table Tennis (Vol. I) notes that the time limit rule
was not being consistently enforced; both the Bergmann-
Ehrlich Final and the Pritzi-Adelstein match exceeded the
1 hour 45 minute limit for a 5-game match.
A difficult time for our sport - what was the best way to
discourage the pushing style play? Another new rule gave
the final word to the Tournament Committee or jury. The
jury voted in favor of the default by a two vote margin; the
Austrian juror voted against default. This sad episode in
Table Tennis history was postumously corrected when
both players were declared co-champions in 2001.
Heavy Metal
Our Heavy Metal page features the rare
and unusual. The large and very rare
medal below is from the 1937 World
Championships held in Baden-bei-Wien in
Austria. It brings back some controversial
memories.
The unusual and stylish medal shown on
the left is actually from Japan. Based on
other Japanese Table Tennis/Ping Pong
medals presented in the previous issue
(especially the cover picture), there is
clear evidence of not only Table Tennis
activity, but also a strong art deco movement
during the 1930s in Japan. Perhaps
one of our readers can do some research
to identify these artists.
This particular example has a rather
abstract flavor in the image of the player,
quite striking, even surprising to the eyes.
The Hungarian medal shown in issue 44
is another impressive example.
© ITTF Museum 2009 Published by the ITTF Museum on behalf of the Table Tennis Collectors’ Society
Contact: ITTF Museum, Chemin de la Roche 11, CH-1020 RENENS, SWITZERLAND
e-mail: museum@ittf.com Website: www.ittf.com/museum
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