Ladislav Hexner

Ladislav Hexner (also known as Vladislav Heksner; 1915–1974) was a Yugoslav international table tennis player best known for his achievements in the 1930s.

Career Hexner was born in 1915 during World War I into a Jewish family living in the city of Sombor, at the time seat of the Bács-Bodrog County in Austria-Hungary. After the war, Sombor and its surrounding region Vojvodina became part of the newly established Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

Very early on Hexner rose to prominence as one of the best players in Yugoslavia, and was part of the SSU team which won the first national team championship in 1929–30, as well as the next three national championships, so that by the age of 18 he was already a four-time club team champion of Yugoslavia.

From 1935 to 1941 Hexner also served as a sports official at several clubs in Zagreb, as well as the national Table Tennis Association (STSJ), which had also moved to Zagreb from Sombor around 1930. He is credited with pioneering and promoting the sport in Croatia as he also penned articles for local sports journals, and is thought to be the first player who appeared in a match wearing shorts, at the 1938 World Championships in Wembley.