Evening star., 1937-03-28
SKILL ON A TABLE
Perrys and Vineses of Table Tennis to Show
Their Stuff Tuesday Before Few of
City's 10000 Fans.

their hardest fight, boWing only bv a
5-4 score, but America BANKED five
countries-England, Germany, Bel
GUM, Rumania and Egypt-by scores
of SO; whipped France, Yugoslavia
and Lithuania, ST., and stopped
Austria and Poland, So.
Slugging in table tennis, In case
you are unfamiliar with the term.
consists of standing as far as 10 or
Is feet behind the edge OF the table
and using the little paddle with wide,
sweeping forearm motion. 1t was not
easy to get even all American players
convinced of the new style Of attack.
and even today some persist in stand
ing up close to the table and returning
the ball in soft, pit-pat style. Such
players, however, rapidly are beng
banned from all jor tournaments,
four out-of-tOWn entrants being BAN
ished from the American zone finals
at Tech High School here last Winter
because of their retention of the old
ping pong game.
That term ping pong" incidentally,
il used seriously, will drive a real
table tennis addict crazy. Ping pong,
they explain, Is trade name applied
to the game by company of the same
name for commercial purposes. 1t is
no more descriptive of the game
which is table tennis than would be
the term "Spalding' if used in
similar connection with lawn tennis.
NEXT Tuesday nights match here,
as stated before. Will follow the
Davis Cup pattern. four singles and
one doubles match. Kolar, the world
champion singles player, will meet
both Americans, Blattner and Glance,
as will his partner, Bellak Blattner
and Glance then will team together
for a doubles match against the Euro
peanS, and therein should lie a point
for the Americans, inasmuch as Blatt-
ner recently won the world doubles
championship with fellow country
man and Glance was a member Of a
former world doubles championship
team.
Each of the quartet, however, will
present phase of the game little
better than the other. On that basis
was the troupe formed, the L. S. T.
T. A desiring to assure the American
public seeing the game at its best,
and thus selecting four players whose
diverse style of shots were the sound
est and best Of the game.
Bellak, the Hungarian, is conSid-
cred the best SHOEMAKER of them
all He has reigned supreme as the
greatest SHOEMAKER Of table tennis
since starting 10 play and compares
with Joe KirkWood Of golf1ng fame
for the tricks he can do in his chosen
field.
Kolar, his teammate, boasts the
hardest forehand in the game and
was selected to show just how hard
ball can be hit Seldom taking the
defensive. Kolar is constantly hitting,
and in the light of the American
associations recent steps hitting
should be what the American public
most wants TO see.
Blattner, the St. Looey keed, Is the
baby of the troupe. just turned
II, he is a splendid example Of style
and grace, and his offense stacks up
with any in the game. He has a
long-range defense TO combine with
his attack, and this makes him an
ideal player for exhibition purposes.
GlancZ. recently naturalized, was
chosen because of his Well-rounded
game, said TO be the nearest approach
to technical perfection that table
tennis can produce. He has a sound
offense, both with forehand and back
hand, and splenid defense, and the
beginners and experts alike. Incl
dentally, he once held the world
championship. losing it to the current
holder and his travelling companion,
Kolar
1t is not a well-knovn fact, but
Fred Perry, the worlds No rank
ing amateur tennis player before
turning professional last Fall, won
the world table tennis championship
in 1929 His now famous slide. known
50 we'll to lawn tennis followers. is
said to be a direct outgrowth of MS
table tennis days, as the slide is
used by most table racketers to keep
in position
Baron Won Cramm, Germany's hope
for world supremacy on the courts,
also is another table tennis devotee,
as are Sidney B. Wood, jr, of America
and Bunny Austin of England.