Béla von Kehrling

Béla von Kehrling ( ; 25 January 1891 – 26 April 1937) was a Hungarian tennis, table tennis, and football player but eventually a winter sportsman familiar with ice-hockey and occasionally competing in bobsleigh.

Career Kehrling like Fred Perry, he played both tennis and table tennis professionally. In 1926 he played in the first table tennis World Championships final in London with Zoltán Mechlovits in doubles but lost to Roland Jacobi (who won the singles title) and Dániel Pécsi. He was also featured in the Hungarian team that won gold in team competition. Originally he wasn't part of the national team. While the Hungarians unanimously swept all of the medals after Roland Jacobi's singles and doubles success he suddenly been reported of the death of his father thus he decided to travel home. The substitute player was Béla von Kehrling who had to beat Munio Pillinger of Austria to have the team medal as well. He did so and completed the flawless victory for Hungary. In the end he took two medals in the table tennis world championships, one gold and one silver.

In 1924, he won the German Tennis Championships. The following year he was back in the finals but then lost against Otto Froitzheim. The same year he won Hungarian Tennis Championships (which he did 13 times altogether counting only the singles). In July 1933, Von Kehrling won the doubles and mixed doubles title at the Dutch Championships.

Züricher Sport newspaper ranked Kehrling as No. 10 in the European Top 10 rankings in 1931.

In conjunction with his sports activity he was the vice-president of the Hungarian Tennis Association and the editor-in-chief of its official magazine the bimonthly Tennisz és Golf (Tennis and Golf). They had another son named Tamás who was born in 1924 and died in 1999.

Tennis career statistics

Singles titles Legend (singles) Grand Slam (0) Consolation tournaments (2) International Championships (13) No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score 1. 1920 Kassa N/A Kamill Fittler N/A 1. 1923 Gothenburg Games Outdoors Oscar Kreuzer 4–6, 6–4, 6–7, 6–4, 6–2 2. 1923 Merano N/A Otto Froitzheim 11–9, 8–6, 6–0 3. 1924 German International Championships N/A Louis Maria Heyden 8–6, 6–1, 9–7 4. 1925 All England Plate Grass Roger George 6–3, 6–4 5. 1925 Lake Geneva Championships Clay Ludwig von Salm-Hoogstraeten 6–1, 6–1, 6–2 6. 1925 Swiss International Covered Courts Wood (i) Hans Moldenhauer 6–1, 6–1, 6–2 7. 1926 Monte Carlo Championships Clay Charles Kingsley 6–4, 6–1, 6–3 8. 1926 Nice N/A N/A N/A 9. 1926 Beaulieu N/A Charles Kingsley 7–5, 3–6, 6–1, 6–3 11. 1927 Monaco Clay Erik Worm walkover 12. 1931 Budapest N/A Hyotaro Sato 6–3, 6–2, 5–7, 6–2 13. 1931 French Riviera Championships Clay George Lyttleton-Rogers 7–5, 6–2, 6–4 14. 1932 Budapest N/A 15. 1932 Italian Riviera Championships Clay George Lyttleton-Rogers 6–3, 6–3, 6–3

Runner-up No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score 1. 1924 Switzerland Hendrik Timmer 3 sets to 2 2. 1925 Hamburg Otto Froitzheim 6–4, 6–1, 4–6, 6–1 3. 1928 Monaco clay Henri Cochet 3–6, 2–6, 6–3, 6–3, 6–2 4. 1929 Bordighera clay Giorgio De Stefani 6–4, 7–5, 6–4 5. 1930 Zagreb clay Emmanuel du Plaix 6–1, 6–4, 3–6, 6–2 6. 1930 Budapest clay Roderich Menzel 4–6, 6–3, 6–4, 6–2 7. 1931 Bordighera clay George Lyttleton-Rogers 1–6, 6–3, 6–4, 0–6, 6–4 8. 1932 Cannes Enrique Maier 6–4, 7–9, 6–1, 6–4 9. 1933 Cannes Gottfried von Cramm 8–6, 6–3, 3–6, 8–6

The All England Plate was a tournament played by the losers of the first two rounds of the Wimbledon Men's Singles tournament.

Davis Cup

Table tennis career statistics World Table Tennis Championships 1926 London 2nd place doubles (with Zoltán Mechlovits) 1st place with the Hungarian team (Dániel Pécsi, Zoltán Mechlovits, Roland Jacobi) International Masters Cup 1927 Berlin – 1st place doubles (with Zoltán Mechlovits)

Football career statistics Number Opponent Venue Attendance Type Date Result Goals scored 1. Austria Budapest 12.000–16.000 Friendly match 4 October 1914 2–2 0 2. Austria Vienna N/A Friendly match 8 November 1914 2–1 1 3. Austria Vienna 1.200 Friendly match 3 October 1915 4–2 N/A 4. Austria Hütteldorf 8000 Friendly match 7 May 1916 1–3 0

Ice hockey career statistics Number Club affiliation Opponent Venue Type Date Result Goals scored 1. BKE Wiener Eislaufverein Vienna International match March 1915 14–2 several 2. BKE Wiener Eislaufverein Vienna International match December 1915 7–3 2 3. BKE Wiener Eislaufverein Budapest Csáky Challenge Cup February 1917 2–7 2 4. BKE Leipziger SC Budapest Csáky Challenge Cup January 1925 3–3 1 5. BKE LTC Prague Tátrafüred Grand Hotel Challenge Cup January 1928 5–2 0