Benedek Oláh

Benedek Oláh
Personal information
Full nameBenedek Márton Oláh
Born (1991-03-29) 29 March 1991
Kalajoki, Finland
Height1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)[1]
Sport
SportTable tennis
ClubBay Area Blasters
Highest ranking50 (28 June 2022)[2]
Current ranking111 (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]

By 2025, Oláh had been named Finland's Table Tennis Player of the Year 16 consecutive times by the Association of Sports Journalists.[6]

Early life

Oláh was born to Hungarian parents in Kalajoki, Finland, but grew up in Seinäjoki.[7][8]

Career

In 2016, Oláh won an ITTF World Tour title in men's singles at the Nigeria Open.[9] 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][10] 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.[11] 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.[12]

Major League Table Tennis

In 2024, Oláh joined Major League Table Tennis (MLTT), the first professional table tennis league in the United States. He was selected by the Princeton Revolution as a first-round pick in the 2024 MLTT draft.[13] Competing in the Eastern Conference, Oláh became the lead player for the Revolution, known for his signature backhand and high winning percentage in singles matches.[14]

He is a 29-time Finnish national table tennis champion – 12-time champion in singles and 6-time champion in mixed doubles.[15]

Personal life

Before moving to Budapest, Hungary, in 2014, Oláh had lived in the Netherlands, Sweden and Germany.[16] In 2026, he married Mongolian-born Byambasuren Sodnomsambuu in Budapest.[17]

References

  1. 1 2 "Benedek Olah". Rio 2016. Archived from the original on 28 August 2016. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
  2. ↑ "Men's Singles 2022 Week #26". ittf.com. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  3. ↑ "Benedek Oláh". Olympedia. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  4. ↑ "Benedek OLAH" (PDF). european-games.org. 8 September 2024. Archived from the original on 27 June 2023. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  5. ↑ "First appearance for Finland, first win, Benedek Olah acclimatises quickly". ittf.com. 21 March 2017. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  6. ↑ "Lajien parhaat urheilijat 2025 on valittu" (in Finnish). Association of Sports Journalists. 12 January 2026. Retrieved 15 May 2026.
  7. ↑ "Pöytätennisammattilainen unohteli aikoinaan passeja lentokentälle – nyt matkalla Rioon" [The table tennis professional used to forget his passport at the airport – now he is on his way to Rio]. Yle (in Finnish). 5 February 2016.
  8. ↑ "Seuravalmentaja epäili pojan olevan väärässä lajissa – tänään Benedek Olah tekee historiaa olympialaisissa" [The club coach suspected the boy was in the wrong sport – today Benedek Olah is making history at the Olympics]. Yle (in Finnish). 11 August 2016.
  9. ↑ "Olah seals first major title at ITTF Nigeria Open". insidethegames.biz. 22 May 2016. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  10. ↑ "Men's Singles - Standings". Rio 2016. Archived from the original on 27 August 2016. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
  11. ↑ "Benedek Olah Upsets Chen Chien-An 3-1 at WTT Doha 2021 - Edges and Nets". edgesandnets.com. 1 March 2021. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  12. ↑ "Andreas Levenko UPSETS Injured Liam Pitchford 3-1". 3 March 2021. Archived from the original on 3 March 2021. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
  13. ↑ "Registration for Season 4 MLTT Draft is now open". MLTT.com. Retrieved 14 March 2026.
  14. ↑ "Princeton Revolution". Major League Table Tennis. Retrieved 14 March 2026.
  15. ↑ "Benedek Olah". Table Tennis Media. 23 March 2021. Retrieved 8 September 2024.
  16. ↑ "Pena Tokioon II" [Pena to Tokyo II]. Mesenaatti (in Finnish). 15 January 2019. Retrieved 12 August 2026.
  17. ↑ Kanerva, Juha [in Finnish] (11 August 2026). "Suomalainen olympiaurheilija meni naimisiin – vaimolla yllättävä kotimaa" [Finnish Olympic athlete gets married – wife has a surprising home country]. Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 12 August 2026.
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