A celluloid ball, light and fragile as a frozen bubble, flicked across the green table. On one side, stood Viktor Gyözö Barna, executing from just above his shoes the incredible backhand shots that have made him four times ping-pong champion of the world. On the other side, whacking them back with a persistence that amazed sophisticates in the crowd who knew that only two years ago he was one of the late Texas Guinan's tap-dancers, stood red-haired Jimmy McClure of Indianapolis.
When play ended, 21-14, 21-19, in Manhattan last week, Barna had...
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