ITTF Museum Donations Program

----------------- February 2012: Mal Anderson (USA) Mal Anderson Photo Archive Photographer Mal Anderson has been a regular fixture at major Table Tennis events for decades, always with his camera at the ready. He has witnessed so much Table Tennis history through his lenses, which he has preserved in a huge archive of over 57,500 photos. Mal has meticulously cataloged and copied all his Table Tennis photos onto over 100 dvds and donated them to the Museum. We are grateful to Mal for sharing this archive with the ITTF Museum, a great visual contribution to the history of our sport. Bravo Mal - keep on clicking! ----------------- January 2012: Rudi Sporrer Rudi Sporrer Donates Historic Gold Medals The recent Executive Committee meeting in Vienna was the scene of a wonderful surprise for the ITTF Museum. ITTF Rules Committee Chairman Rudi Sporrer (AUT) donated two spectacular and historic gold medals: 1st place for the 1936 Swaythling Cup, won by the Austrian Men's team, and the medal won by Trude Pritzi (AUT) as the 1938 World Women's Champion. Rudi, who is a highly respected ITTF Museum Ambassador, presented the medals to ITTF President Adham Sharara during the EC meeting, followed by the induction ceremony of Trude Pritzi into the ITTF Hall of Fame. A great day for all, and we are grateful to Rudi for his generous and thoughtful gift, which will help the Museum preserve and promote the accomplishments of the great Austrian superstars of the 1930s - their legends live on. ----------------- October 2011: Kjell Johansson's Personal Racket Magnus Sturesson Donation Magnus Sturesson of Sweden has helped the ITTF Museum preserve the legend of the late Kjell Johansson by donating Kjell's personal racket from his mega-year 1973. Kjell won Gold in the Teams, Gold in Men's Doubles, and Silver in the Singles. He also won Gold in the Men's Doubles (with Hans Alser) at the 1967 and 1969 World Championships. This racket, inscribed by Kjell, is a great addition to our Swedish Table Tennis Heritage exhibit. Thank you Magnus for your kind donation. Bravo ! ----------------- October 2011: Atlanta 1996 Olympic torch Atlanta 1996 Olympic Torch ! The ITTF Museum moved one step closer to completing the series of Olympic torches, beginning with Seoul 1988, when Table Tennis first appeared in the Olympic Games. Now we need only the Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games torch to complete our Olympics exhibit. Proudly donated by your curator. For an illustrated view of a wide range of great Table Tennis rarities that I have donated, click here ----------------- August 2011: 1950 World Championship Program Jean Devys Donation ITTF Museum Ambassador Jean Devys (FRA) has once again delivered a great surprise, a beautifully preserved original program from the 1950 World Championships held in Budapest. The program is filled with autographs of many great players, such as Victor Barna, Johnny Leach, Richard Bergmann, Ferenc Sido and Gigi Farkas. Jean has also delivered another part of his world renowned philatelic collection. I have created several websites showing this wonderful collection - check it out at: Jean Devys Philately ----------------- January 2011: Radivoj Hudetz, author and veteran of many worldwide Table Tennis events Radivoj Hudetz Donation Radivoj Hudetz (HRV) kindly donated a huge series of original programs from international events. These are an excellent addition to the ITTF Archives, preserving the record of such events. Radivoj has seen so much Table Tennis history, as he amassed these programs from tournaments he attended. He is a widely published author of books and articles about Table Tennis. Thank you Radivoj ! ----------------- December 2010: ITTF President Adham Sharara (L) accepts Sydney 2000 Olympics torch donated by Oceania TTA President Patrick Gillmann Sydney Olympic Torch ! The year 2010 ended with a wonderful gift for the ITTF Museum, donated by Oceania TTA President Patrick Gillmann. 'The torch was used in the relay around the Pacific Islands, finishing in Palau before the Sydney Olympic Games. The last relay in Palau was run by the late Jemmy Watanabe, past president of the Palau Table Tennis Association.' In accepting this historic torch Adham observed: 'The relay continues, from Oceania to Bratislava, then on to Lausanne, where it will join the other Olympic torches in the ITTF Museum.' ITTF Executive Director Jordi Serra relayed the torch to the Museum - the final relay. Now the Museum needs only the torches from Barcelona 1992 and Atlanta 1996 to complete the series, which began with Seoul 1988, when Table Tennis first appeared in the Olympic Games. On behalf of the international Table Tennis community we thank Patrick for this extraordinary donation, which helps the Museum to preserve the great memories of the Sydney Olympics experience. Bravo Patrick ! ----------------- December 2010: State-of-the-art robots by Newgy Newgy Robots donated Two state-of-the-art Table Tennis robots were kindly donated to the ITTF Museum by Newgy founder Joey Newgarden (USA). Newgy robots are world renowned for their quality, versatility and ease of use. Newgy Model 2040 is now installed in our Salle de Jeu on the DHS table from the 2005 World Championship finals. The winners of the 2005 World Singles titles are, appropriately, looking on in the background. We thank Newgy for their generosity. Special thanks also to ITTF Museum Ambassador Caron Leff (USA) for her thoughtful coordination of this special donation. ----------------- October 2010: Marty Reisman, portrait in oils by David Beynon Pena Marty Reisman, by David Beynon Pena Legendary Marty Reisman (USA) arrived at the ITTF Museum, in the form of an original full-length portait in oils by David Beynon Pena of New York. The painting, imposing at over 1.5 meters tall and the first original oil painting in the ITTF Museum, really captures the essence of the charismatic ambassador of the hardbat style of Table Tennis. Still slim and trim at 80 years young, with a precise, consistent attack, Marty is featured in the BBC's Ping Pong Planet, in countless magazine articles and in many videos. His autobiography The Money Player was published in 1974, now a scarce collectors' item. The colorful painting has an interesting symbolic position in our Classic Era room, just next to the entrance to the Age of Technology room. As is well known through his unique form of Ping Pong Diplomacy, Marty steadfastly refuses to embrace the new technology sponge rackets, still an outspoken advocate of the classical style using hardbat. The artist David Beynon Pena is renowned and highly sought after for his portraiture. We thank everyone involved in making this donation happen, and congratulate David for his great creation. ----------------- August 2010: Rufford Harrison Donation Rufford Harrison (USA) has kindly sent his entire collection of items relating to Ping Pong Diplomacy during 1971 and 1972. The donation is packed with historic photographs, original news clippings, correspondence and other documents, a complete record of this important episode in world history. Rufford was part of the American contingent that visited China in 1971. He has served the global Table Tennis community for over 50 years. We thank Rufford for helping us to preserve and promote Table Tennis history. ----------------- July 2010: Rainer Schmidt Racket We are very pleased to announce a fine donation from Rainer Schmidt of Bonn. The world famous Para-Table Tennis expert has sent his specially adapted racket, and this is now featured in our PTT exhibit. Rainer has quite an impressive collection: 4 Paralympic Gold and 3 Silver medals, and 6 World Championships Gold medals! Check out his website: www.schmidt-rainer.com This racket enables the ITTF Museum to preserve and salute his incredible legacy. Thank you Rainer for this great donation. ----------------- April 2010: The Art of Liha Rackets What is Liha? Ask its top Ambassador, Peter Cua of the Philippines, where Table Tennis using sandpaper rackets is extremely popular. Peter recently donated three beautifully crafted Liha rackets, each extensively inlaid with shell. He is forging ahead with plans to promote Liha style Table Tennis internationally. We congratulate Peter as a man of vision, and extend our gratitude for these beautiful rackets. ----------------- October 2009: JEAN DEVYS Donation ITTF Museum Ambassador Jean Devys (FRA), a legend in French Table Tennis, announced the donation of his fantastic world class philatelic collection during a recent visit to the ITTF Museum. We are delighted and highly impressed with Jean's generosity, and his thoughtfulness to preserve the collection for all to enjoy. A series of websites in French or English showing each item is now being developed - visit ittf.com/museum/jeandevys Jean`s philatelic collection is without doubt the world's finest, and it speaks an international language, demonstrating the global popularity of our sport. Bravo Jean Devys! ----------------- September 2009: Remembering Jimmy McClure ITTF Museum Ambassador Caron Leff (USA) continues to be of great help, this time donating a wonderful vintage photograph of legendary Jimmy McClure, founder of the ITTF Hall of Fame, and winner of the World Mens Doubles title three consecutive years: 1936, 37, 38. Jimmy was also on the World Champion American team in 1937, the year that the USA won both the Swaythling and Corbillon Cups, setting a record as the first country to do so. This photo, showing Jimmy with the impressively large trophy for winning the 1939 U.S.Open Championship, will be part of a special exhibit in the ITTF Museum to remember & celebrate his achievements. Thank you Caron for your dedicated help! ----------------- June 2009: Giant size signed racket Judit Farago, ITTF Director of Competitions, on behalf of the Hungarian Table Tennis Association, presented the ITTF Museum with a very special racket during her visit along with the ITTF Executive Committee on 27 June. The racket is signed by a host of star players participating in an event in honor of the retirement of Hungary's Csilla Batorfi. Thank you Judit for this thoughtful gift, which is a salute to women's Table Tennis, and congratulations to Csilla for a great career. ----------------- June 2009: Kreanga shirt & Signed Racket Kalinikos Kreanga, the great star from Greece, has kindly donated his shirt and signed racket. Special thanks to Coach Michalis Katsikadelis & the Hellenic Table Tennis Federation, Emmanuel Kolibadis, President, and Dimosthenis Messinis, Hon. General Secretary, for making the arrangements. Such donations help the ITTF Museum to preserve & promote the legacies of the top stars of our sport, and I sincerely hope that other top players will do the same, for our planned Wall of Champions. ----------------- June 2009: Reiko Miyagawa (JPN) Philatelic Collection Mrs. Reiko Miyagawa of Japan has kindly presented the ITTF Museum with an extensive philatelic collection. She prepared a book about her fine collection, Stamps - Connecting the Table Tennis World, thus preserving a beautifully illustrated record of her achievement. The collection includes stamps, postmarks & picture postcards with Table Tennis motif, commemor- ating events from around the world. We thank Mrs. Miyagawa for her thoughtful and generous donation, which is a major help to update the ITTF Museum collection. ----------------- May 2009: The official Gold, Silver and Bronze medals from the 2009 World Championships in Yokohama. World Championship Medals The Yokohama Organizing Committee has presented the ITTF Museum a wonderful donation of a boxed set of the official Gold, Silver and Bronze Medals from the 2009 World Championships. These beautiful medals help the Museum to honour not only the champions but also provide a lasting memory of the event and all the heroic work by our hosts. We are all grateful to the Yokohama Organizing Committee for their generous and thoughtful gift, for their great contribution to the history of our sport. ----------------- May 2009: Liha sandpaper racket beautifully inlaid with shell Racket Donation Mr. Peter Cua of The Philippines has donated a superb racket to the Museum during the World Championships in Yokohama. The entire handle and blade edging are inlaid with shell, with stunning effect. The playing surface is sandpaper, liha as it is called in the Phillippines. Liha style Table Tennis is very popular there, and Peter is its passionate ambassador. Thank you Peter for this beautiful gift. ----------------- 2009: Vincent Boury (FRA) Donation We are pleased to announce the kind donation from Vincent Boury (FRA) of his specially adapted racket and his Table Tennis shirt, during a visit to the ITTF HQs in Lausanne. Vincent won the Gold Medal at the Beijing 2008 Paralympics! Check out his amazing achievements on his website: www.vincentboury.net The racket is now featured in our PTT exhibit, and enables us to preserve and celebrate his outstanding Table Tennis legacy. Thank you Vincent for this great donation. ----------------- Nov 2008: The ITTF Museum thanks the family for helping us to preserve Ron's lifetime contribution to Table Tennis literature. The Ron Crayden Library The family of English internationalist Ron Crayden has kindly donated Ron's fine library of Table Tennis books, magazines, records, and related materials. Combined with the our existing library, the ITTF now has the world's finest and most extensive collection of literature relating to Table Tennis. The ITTF Museum will make the library accessible for research on a controlled basis. It will take some time to catalog the collection and update the ITTF website with photos of each book. We encourage such donations from the global Table Tennis community, to help preserve an accurate historical record. Join the ITTF Museum team with your donation - Contact the curator: museum@ittf.com ----------------- 17 Nov: The ITTF Museum thanks the family for helping us to salute this great champion, to preserve and promote his fantastic achievements. His legend will never be forgotten. IVAN ANDREADIS (CZE) Remembered The family of legendary Czech star Ivan Andreadis has kindly loaned a beautiful 27cm trophy to the Museum, which he won for the 1947 Czech national championship. Andreadis was 4-time World Men's Doubles Champion (1949,51,55,57), and won the World Mixed Doubles title in 1954, paired with Hungarian star G. Farkas. He was also a key member of the Czech team, winning the Gold in 1947,48,50,51, and was the World Men's Singles finalist in 1951 & 1953. Andreadis was inducted into the ITTF Hall of Fame in 1995, with an outstanding record of 27 World Championship medals: 9 Gold, 10 Silver and 8 Bronze. ----------------- 16 Sep: A.K."Bill" Vint's Personal Racket: A classic Barna bat, previously donated by the Vint family. We are again indebted to the ETTA for allowing the ITTF Museum to have this item. Bill was ITTF Treasurer from 1947 to 1969, and Hon. General Secretary from 1967 to 1977. He was inducted into the ITTF Hall of Fame in 1997. Visitors from England During September the Museum had two visitors from England; Harvey Webb, an ETTA Vice-President and current ETTA National Events Manager and Diane Kirkwood, Chair and National Councillor for Sussex County Table Tennis Association. With them they brought some donations to the Museum, including: Victor Barna Trophy Thanks are due to Mrs Kate O'Sullivan for recognising the importance of this Trophy, rescuing it from use as a flower vase, and for arranging with Rob Sinclair, the General Secretary of the English Table Tennis Association, for its donation to the ITTF Museum. The trophy was presented to legendary Victor Barna in Prague 1932, for winning the second of his record-setting 5 World Men's Singles titles. This precious piece of history will be the centerpiece of our tribute to Victor, whose record of 40 World Championship medals, 22 of them Gold, will never be equalled. A.K."Bill" Vint Illuminated Address: Thanks to the Hastings Table Tennis Association for the donation of this unique item. ----------------- 24 Aug: Beijing Olympic Torch! The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG) has helped the ITTF Museum by their great donation of an official torch. The photo shows Yang Shu'an, BOCOG Vice President and ITTF Executive Vice President presenting the torch to ITTF President Adham Sharara in a special ceremony. The torch will be on exhibit at the ITTF Museum, preserving the memories of the highly successful Beijing Olympic Games, along with their universal concept, One World - One Dream. Special thanks to ITTF Museum Ambassador Yao Zhenxu for helping to arrange this important gift. ----------------- 8 Aug: Historic Racket: 1988 Olympics 1988 Olympic Gold Medalist Yang Young Ja (KOR) kindly donated her original racket to the ITTF Museum. This historic racket joins her partner's, Hyun Jung Hwa, who donated her racket in 2005. The pair won the Women's Doubles in Seoul 1988, and now twenty years later they are reunited through their rackets. This will make a wonderful exhibit, and I extend my heartfelt gratitude to Ms. Yang, for allowing the ITTF Museum to preserve and celebrate her great achievement. Special thanks also to ITTF Museum Ambassador Han Sang Kook for organizing this fantastic donation. The photo shows ITTF Executive Director Jordi Serra accepting the racket from Ms. Yang at the Beijing Olympic Games. ----------------- 10 May: Legendary Jiang Jialiang 1985 and 1987 World Singles Champion Jiang Jialiang has kindly donated his racket to the ITTF Museum. The popular Chinese star won 10 World Championship medals, including 5 Gold, and was inducted into the ITTF Hall of Fame in 2001. It is a great privilege to exhibit this historic racket, and we thank Jiang Jialiang for this honor, which enables us to preserve and promote his legend. Special thanks also to ITTF Museum Ambassador Yao Zhenxu for organizing this fantastic donation. ----------------- 27 September: Micky Herbst (ISR) kindly donated a bat used by her Mother, legendary Angelica Rozeanu, which helps us to complete an exhibit in honor of the great 17-time World Champion from Romania, who holds the all-time record of 6 consecutive World Singles titles. Micky also developed a beautiful website in tribute to Angi: http://www.mickyh.com/aar/aar.html Thanks to you Micky your Mother's legend will live on. ----------------- 16 July: RudiSporrer of Austria, Chairman of the ITTF Rules Committee and recently appointed as an Ambassador of the ITTF Museum, has once again showed he has a big heart for Table Tennis. Rudi donated an Angelica Rozeanu bat, which helps us to complete an exhibit in honor of the great 17-time World Champion from Romania, who holds the all-time record of 6 consecutive World Singles titles. Thank you Mr. Ambassador! ----------------- 20 May: The ITTF Museum expresses heartfelt gratitude to Hall of Famers Lin Huiqing (left) and Qiao Hong of China for donating their bats. Lin won the World Championship Gold Medal Triple Crown in 1971 Nagoya: Singles, Doubles & Mixed Doubles; Qiao won 1989 World Singles & Doubles Gold, as well as Olympic Gold in Doubles & Silver in Singles at Barcelona 1992, and the 1995 World Doubles title, fantastic athletic achievements which we are proud to preserve and share with the international Table Tennis community. These important donations kindly arranged by ITTF Museum Ambassador Yao Zhenxu (CHN) ----------------- 4 May: The ITTF Museum is pleased to announce the donation of a rare and highly unusual 3-panel Table Tennis scoring device. Special thanks to Geoff Reed of Jersey for his kind and thoughtful donation. The Museum has only a few items relating to umpiring, so this is an important addition to our exhibits. The scoring device works by turning the knob on top, which releases the numbers to update the score. I am hoping we can find a photo of the device in use at a tournament. Probably c.1950s-60s vintage. ----------------- 10 April: ITTF Museum Ambassador Caron Leff has once again demonstrated her respect for and dedication to preserving the history of Table Tennis. The Florida TT Hall of Famer donated an engraved silver award presented by the Japan TTA to the late Jimmy McClure (USA) "in recognition of and grateful thanks for his part in returning the Japan TTA to worldwide competition, on the 50th Anniversary of that occasion." This historic plate will be a proud addition to our tribute exhibit for Jimmy, founder and charter member of the ITTF Hall of Fame. Caron is a distinguished member of the ITTF Museum team, and she has set a fine example for all to follow. Visit Caron's Corner ----------------- 15 March: Sachiko Morisawa The ITTF Museum expresses heartfelt gratitude to Sachiko Morisawa of Japan for donating her bat. Sachiko won the Gold Medal Triple Crown at the 1967 World Championships in Stockholm, Singles, Doubles & Teams, a fantastic athletic achievement which we are proud to preserve and share with the international Table Tennis community. Special thanks to Etsuko Enami for coordinating the arrangements for this wonderful donation. ----------------- 2 February: Ichiro Ogimura The family of former World Champion and ITTF President and Hall of Famer Ichiro Ogimura (JPN) has kindly donated their distinguished Father's bat, along with his clothing outfits from the Seoul 1988 Olympic Games and 1991 World Championships in Chiba. An archive of documents from his Presidency, as well as books that the popular "Ogi" authored, were also included in the donation. Such memorabilia will help the ITTF Museum preserve a lasting memory of one of the great legends of our sport, and we are grateful to the family for this opportunity. ----------------- 5 January 2007: The Great Bellak The ITTF Museum is pleased to announce the conveyance of memorabilia from the late Laszlo Bellak, one of the great early Hungarian stars. Laci Bellak was one of the legendary Three Musketeers of Table Tennis, along with fellow Hungarians Victor Barna and Miklos Szabados. The trio did much to popularize the game through their exhibit tours. Known for his keen wit and storytelling, "The Great Bellak" won 7 World Championship Gold Medals, and was a founding member of the ITTF Hall of Fame. We thank the family for their thoughtfulness, which will help the ITTF Museum to create a tribute exhibit in his honor. ----------------- 11 November: Special thanks to Jordi Prat and the Catalan Table Tennis Federation for their donation of a fine original lithograph by the renowned artist, Domenech. The limited edition lithograph, 17/200, is inscribed with a dedication from the artist. ----------------- 11 October: Jimmy McClure Caron Leff, member of the Florida Table Tennis Hall of Fame and an Ambassador of the ITTF Museum, kindly donated several fine World Championship medals and trophy won by the late Jimmy McClure. The ITTF Museum salutes our MVP Ambassador for all her wonderful support - a real privilige to have Caron on the Museum team. Visit Caron's Corner Cut-glass trophy for the 1936 Men's Doubles Championship, won by Jimmy McClure (USA) Medal for the 1937 Swaythling Cup, won by Jimmy McClure and the USA Men's Team, along with a pin from the 1937 World Championships Pennant from a match between the USA and Austria, along with 2 medals from the 1949-50 Austrian Open: Men's Doubles (H.D.) 1st Place, and Mixed Doubles (G.D.) 3rd place, both won by Jimmy McClure (USA) ----------------- 11 October: Standa Kolar Racket Dickie Fleisher (USA), professional harpist and avid Table Tennis enthusiast, has kindly loaned the bat used by Standa Kolar (CZE) to win the 1936 World Singles title. The bat comes via "The Great Bellak" along with a handwritten letter from Kolar, conveying the bat to the late Laci Bellak. Special thanks to Dickie for sharing this unique piece of history with the world Table Tennis community. ----------------- 25 September: Sydney 2000 Net ITTF Executive VP Neil Harwood donates the complete series of 27 video tapes of all matches in the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, and a net set used in the events. ----------------- 13 September: Athens Olympic Torch! Emmanuel Kolibadis, Secretary General of the Hellenic TT Association, kindly donates a torch from the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens! ----------------- 14 August: Hikosuke Tamasu Kimihiko Tamasu kindly donates memorabilia of his late Father, Hikosuke, who founded the Butterfly TT corporation. The Collection includes a large calligraphy scroll prepared by 3-time World Singles Champion Zhuang Zedong (CHN), Hikosuke's camera and other personal items and books, and his extensive Table Tennis pin collection. Hikosuke was a lifelong sponsor of players and events - his legend will live on. ----------------- 11 July: Laszlo Foldi Laszlo Foldi visits ITTF Museum, donates Swiss Elite 10 trophy and related art, photos and personal bats. These thoughtful donations will help the ITTF Museum pay tribute to our host country, Switzerland. ----------------- 8 July: DHS and Joola join the ITTF Museum sponsor team ----------------- 15-20 May: ITTF Museum exhibit at the World Veterans Championships in Bremen ----------------- 24 April-1 May: Yao Zhenxu At the 2006 World Championships in Bremen, Mr.Yao Zhenxu of the Chinese TTA presents the ITTF Museum with a set of the Gold, Silver and Bronze medals from the 2005 World Championships in Shanghai. Subsequently Mr Yao presented the Museum with a bat signed by World Champion Wang Liqin. We salute the Chinese TT Association for their great support of the ITTF Museum. ----------------- 17 January: Sandor Szabados, son of 1931 World Champion Miklos Szabados, presents the Museum with his Father's bats and gold pin. ----------------- 1 January 2006: Happy New Year to all, and special thanks for Museum donations in 2005 ----------------- 5 August: Marie-Jeanne Urchetti donates two magnificent trophies, representng the Swiss mens National Championships from 1931/32 to 1948, a title won many times by her late husband and founding member of the Swaythling Club, Hugo Urchetti. These will form the core of an exhibit about Swiss table Tennis history, in honor of our host country. ----------------- 3 August: Museum display cases arrive from Shanghai, so now begins the set-up of the permanent museum. Special thanks to ITTF Executive Vice President Yang Shuan and the Chinese Table Tennis Association (CTTA), and the Shanghai Organizing Committee for their generous donation of the display cases and shipping. ----------------- 7 July: Famous French Table Tennis philately collector Jean Devys visits the ITTF Museum and agrees to donate his collection to the Museum. ----------------- 28 June: Ebby Schoeler & Diane Rowe Schoeler visit the ITTF Museum A vintage film of Diane winning the World Doubles Championships with her sister was a special treat for Diane. They subsequently donated a series of photographs of historic moments during their Table Tennis careers. Thank you Diane and Ebby for helping our Photo Archive! ----------------- Shanghai World Championships 2005: Korean Olympic Gold Medalists present their bats to the ITTF Museum. This was one of the most popular museum exhibits at the World Championships in Shanghai - the fans love their Champions, and seeing close-up the bats they used was a real treat for everyone. Each bat was accompanied by a personally signed certification. This was kindly arranged by former ITTF Executive VP Han Sang Kook, and we are grateful that these Korean superstars have shared their legacies with the international Table Tennis community. ----------------- January 2005: ITTF Rules Committee Chairman Rudi Sporrer (AUT) visits the museum and kindly donated a series of rare vintage bats and other memorabilia, including several fine examples of early 1950s thick sponge bats. Museum Friend Rudi also presented the bat used by Trude Pritzi to win the 1938 Women's World Championships, and a bat used by legendary Richard Bergmann when he visited a club in Austria. This is a beautiful and thoughtful gesture from Rudi, a fine player who has a keen sense of Table Tennis history and the importance of preserving the history in a proper museum environment. Heartfelt thanks to Rudi Sporrer for his kind help!