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Obituary: Victor Mercer

23 January 2012

Obituary for Victor Mercer 

Victor Mercer, a true Ulster and Irish Table Tennis legend from the post-War period died peacefully in Bath, England earlier this month.

This prolific Belfast-born table tennis player was an undisputed star over a decade, having gained his first Irish Senior cap in 1945 as a 20 year old fledgling, and his performances and playing career were inextricably linked to two other greats – Ivan Martin and Harry ‘Hopper’ O’Prey.

Victor came from a sporting family, his brother Wally holding down the Irish Hockey team captaincy and younger brother Terry being a fanatical table tennis competitor and No.1 fan for Victor. Strangely, this illustrious Mercer table tennis career almost didn’t happen as he and Martin strolled into Mountpottinger YMCA for a game of snooker and ended up trying table tennis as all the tables were booked - the two extroverts developed skills in the infamous Mount upper room, and later graced many Belfast & District table tennis league winning teams ahead of close rivals Ards and Glenford.

The Mercer, Martin and O’Prey trio dominated Ulster and Irish team selections for years, amassing over 10 inter-provincial titles, and the coveted Claire Moore Shield, ahead of close rivals Leinster as Dubliner Tommy Caffrey was emerging as a force to be reckoned with.

Victor Mercer stood out from the crowd with his strong all-round game, and immense defensive skills, using the standard hard Barna bat, occupying the Irish No.1 position for several years and being regularly awarded the Rhanbuoy Trophy for the ‘leading Irish player’; he had over 60 senior caps in a time when international sport was restricted by travel.

Records show that Mercer only won the Irish Open title on one occasion in 1952, but made it a ‘blue riband year’, as he also took the Scottish and Welsh Open titles that year.  He also shared an array of Men’s Doubles titles with Ivan Martin, despite this being an era when other internationals such as Richard Bergman (England), Jack Hillan (Scotland) and John Davies (Wales) were competing successfully across the UK.

Mercer’s finest hour came in 1953, defeating World No. 3 Martin Reissman (USA) in the Leinster Open, going on to claim a pair of titles, teaming up with Jimmy Burns (Belfast) to defeat Reissman and French international Guy Amouretti in the Men’s Doubles. Indeed he almost had an even more prestigious scalp when he lost out narrowly in 3 sets to World No. 1 Jonny Leach (England) in 1954.

Victor Mercer was pre-deceased by his wife Pearl who was another table tennis enthusiast, the pair winning several local mixed doubles honours.  He is survived by his son Terence and brothers Wally and Terry. The Irish Table Tennis community offer their sympathies on the death of a great player and friend.

Alan Strong    

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