Member Associations | 19 Aug 2020

Agnes SIMON passed away at the age of 85

The doubles World champion from 1957 and singles European champion from 1962, Agnes SIMON passed away on August 19th at the age of 85 after a short illness.

 

Agnes SIMON, born ALMASI, had shaped table tennis in Germany and Europe for decades. She was the only world-class player who represented three national associations at nine Worlds and nine European championships. Born in 1935 in Budapest, she took part in a World Cup for Hungary for the first time at the age of 15, reaching the quarter-finals in doubles. This was followed by World Cup bronze (1953) and silver (1954) with the team.

 

Her biggest success was in Stockholm in 1957, where she won the doubles title alongside teammate Livia MOSSOCZY. Following that success she moved to Netherlands. In Dutch jersey she reached the quarter-finals in singles and doubles at the 1959 World Cup in Dortmund.

 

In 1960 SIMON moved to Germany and the family settled in Duisburg. The success of the DSC (formerly DTC) Kaiserberg is closely linked to her name. She led her Duisburg district club to the German team championship 18 times, won the German Cup 15 times, won the European Cup in 1966 and the Nancy Evans Cup in 1971 and 1981. She was still active in the Bundesliga at the age of 60. Her teammates over the years have included the former national players Ursula KAMIZURU (born HIRSCHMÜLLER), Margit FREIBERG and Katja NOLTEN.

 

She entered the Bundesliga at the age of 57, and remained loyal to the Kaiserbergs as a founding member of the league even after relegation to the first division in mid-1993. Her international career was long over by then, but she said she was playing “better than ever today”.

 

She won the German Open three times in a row: 1960 for the Netherlands, 1961 and 1962 for Germany. On her European championship debut for her new home country in 1962, she won medals in all four competitions: gold in singles and with the team (with Buchholz, Harst and Matthias), silver in doubles and mixed. In 1968 she added a team title (with Buchholz, Hendriksen and Krüger) and four more medals by 1976. Between 1962 and 1976 she made 93 international matches for the DTTB.