France in 1936 and played professionally there, but it was to England that he came on the outbreak of War. He and his wife Suzy were travelling and playing in the United States in September 1939 andwere the only people applying to come back to Europe – Victor felt that he had a duty to fight the Nazi threat. He joined a British army commando unit and was all set to be parachuted into Yugoslavia until Marshal Tito cabled London that he didn’t require any help. So he remained in Britain playing exhibition table tennis to improve morale – the Savoy Hotel was a regular haunt.
After the War, Victor and Suzy settled in Pinner. No longer the force in the world game that he had been in the 1930s, Victor became more involved in the development of the game, at international, national and local level. His last World Championships were in 1954 at the Wembley Empire Pool and he was runner-up in the men’s doubles.
He represented England and would also play for Middlesex. The Victor Barna Trophy is still competed for every year by representative teams from each of the Middlesex local leagues.
Not being able to live off table tennis alone, Barna became a representative for the Dunlop Sports Company based in London, initially for table tennis products, but later – he was very good at his job – for tennis, athletics and golf as well. Many of today’s table tennis players will remember the hard ‘Barna bat’ with which they first played the game and Barna tables and nets were also in vogue.
On behalf of the international federation, Barna continued as an ambassador for the sport, which was growing in popularity around the world and now boasted a sizeable contingent of successful far eastern adherents. He would always have his bat with him, and would entertain locals even in the most rudimentary of facilities with a selection of flicks and trick shots. It was whilst on official table tennis business in Peru in 1971 Victor suffered a heart attack and died in Lima.
Barna’s playing success speaks for itself – five world singles titles (four of them consecutive in the 1930s) plus 17 others in men’s and mixed doubles and for Hungary. The honour recently awarded by that nation was justly deserved for this alone. But he will be remembered just as much as the
personality who popularised the sport and gave it a worldwide platform – and all this with a significant presence, grace and humility not often seen amongst today’s world champions.
(Article from Table Tennis November 1946)
Wives Please Copy....
Barna won a table tennis tournament last summer. But surely that isn’t news? Well, in this case it is, because it happens to be the first tournament this particular Barna has ever won. We refer, of course to the charming Mrs. Suzy Barna, and the tourney she won was the weekly affair at a famous holiday camp. The illustrious Victor was performing his stage exhibitions at a nearby theatre, and so he and Suzy were “campers” for a week.
Whether out of modesty to avoid scaring the other competitors we are not sure, but the fact remains that Mrs. Barna entered under an assumed name. The name she chose was “Miss Barnes”, and in the circumstances it is a good thing that she managed to win, thus sustaining the reputation of the better-known Miss Barnes – English international. Can you just imagine all the World Championship
trophies in the Barna household, nudging each other and turning green with jealousy as Suzy’s prize was installed in the place of honour? |
