International Table Tennis Star To Visit Whakatane This Month

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 12, Issue 51, 1 June 1948, Page 5

International Table Tennis Star To Visit Whakatane This Month

On June 14, Michael Szabados, who has won 11 world table tennis titles in an amazingly successful career, is to visit Whakatane with Phil Anderson, Australian table tennis star. Through the Wairaka Club, a game between Szabodos and S. Davis, local champion, has been arranged. The visitors are also to give exhibitions of trick shots and novelty play. Szabados started young. Given a table tennis set for his thirteenth birthday, at the age of 14 he amazed criticis when he played in the Hungarian National Championships in Budapest. Shortly after his sixteenth birthday he was rated No. 1 player in the world. It was in this year that he competed successfully in several doubles matches with world titles at stake, and was only beaten by Fred. Perry, who was then world champion lawn tdnnis player. Two years later he won the world singles title and in following years he was rated No. 1 player in the world partnering the well known Barna. Share those early days Szabados has gone oh to win no less than 11 world titles and 77 International titles. In 1937 he was invited to Australia by the Australian T.T.A. and appeared in exhibition matches in New Zealand in ' the same year. Since then the quiet-spoken Szabados has lived in Australia where he married a Melbourne girl. But has visited such countries as Java, China, Malaya and India. During the war he gave innumerable exhibitions for troops and since then, has made a valuable contribution to the rehabilitation of ex-ser 7 vicemen by coaching lessons in the various Military Hospitals.