Benedek Oláh

Finnish table tennis player

Benedek Oláh

Personal information
Full name	Benedek Márton Oláh
Born	(1991-03-29) 29 March 1991 (age 33) Kalajoki, Finland
Height	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)^[1]
Highest ranking	50 (28 June 2022)^[2]
Current ranking	111 (8 September 2024)

Benedek Márton Oláh (born 29 March 1991) is a Finnish table tennis player.^[3]^[4] He is the first Finnish Olympian in table tennis competition.^[5]

Career

In 2016, Oláh won an ITTF World Tour title in men's singles at the Nigeria Open.^[6] He competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in the men's singles event, in which he was eliminated in the second round by Jonathan Groth.^[1]^[7] From this, he made history as the first Finnish Olympian to participate in the table tennis competition.

2021

Benedek entered WTT Doha 2021 with a world rank of 85. He upset world ranked 69 Chen Chien-an in the second round of the qualifying draw in the WTT Contender event.^[8] Benedek would lose to world-ranked number 144 Andreas Levenko in the next round; however, Levenko would go on to have a highly successful tournament, including an upset of world ranked number 15 Liam Pitchford.^[9]

Personal life

Oláh was born to Hungarian parents in Kalajoki, Finland, but grew up in Seinäjoki.^[10]^[11]

He is a 29-time Finnish national table tennis champion – 12-time champion in singles and 6-time champion in mixed doubles.^[12]

References

^ ^a ^b "Benedek Olah". Rio 2016. Archived from the original on 28 August 2016. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
^ "Men's Singles 2022 Week #26". ittf.com. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
^ "Benedek Oláh". olympedia.org. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
^ "Benedek OLAH" (PDF). european-games.org. 8 September 2024. Archived from the original on 27 June 2023. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
^ "First appearance for Finland, first win, Benedek Olah acclimatises quickly". ittf.com. 21 March 2017. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
^ "Olah seals first major title at ITTF Nigeria Open". insidethegames.biz. 22 May 2016. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
^ "Men's Singles - Standings". Rio 2016. Archived from the original on 27 August 2016. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
^ "Benedek Olah Upsets Chen Chien-An 3-1 at WTT Doha 2021 - Edges and Nets". edgesandnets.com. 1 March 2021. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
^ "Andreas Levenko UPSETS Injured Liam Pitchford 3-1". 3 March 2021.
^ "Pöytätennisammattilainen unohteli aikoinaan passeja lentokentälle – nyt matkalla Rioon". Yle (in Finnish). 5 February 2016.
^ "Seuravalmentaja epäili pojan olevan väärässä lajissa – tänään Benedek Olah tekee historiaa olympialaisissa". Yle (in Finnish). 11 August 2016.
^ "Benedek Olah". Table Tennis Media. 23 March 2021. Retrieved 8 September 2024.