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Kalinikos Kreanga

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Kalinikos Kreanga
BERJAYA
Kreanga in 2010.
Personal information
Full nameKalinikos Kreanga
NationalityBERJAYA Romania BERJAYA Greece
Born (1972-03-08) 8 March 1972 (age 54)
Bistriţa, Romania
Height1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)[1]
Weight62 kg (137 lb; 9.8 st)
Sport
SportTable tennis
Medal record
Men's table tennis
Representing BERJAYA Greece
World Championships
Bronze medal – third place1991 Chiba CityMixed Doubles
Bronze medal – third place2003 ParisSingles
World Cup
Silver medal – second place2003 JiangyinSingles
Silver medal – second place2004 HangzhouSingles
European Championships
Gold medal – first place1992 StuttgartMixed Doubles
Gold medal – first place1994 BirminghamDoubles
Silver medal – second place1994 BirminghamMixed Doubles
Silver medal – second place1996 BratislavaMixed Doubles
Silver medal – second place1998 EindhovenDoubles
Silver medal – second place2000 BremenDoubles
Silver medal – second place2002 ZagrebSingles
Silver medal – second place2005 AarhusDoubles
Silver medal – second place2013 SchwechatTeam
Bronze medal – third place1996 BratislavaDoubles
Bronze medal – third place2005 AarhusSingles
Representing BERJAYA Romania
European Championships
Bronze medal – third place1988 ParisMixed Doubles

Kalinikos Kreanga (born March 8, 1972) is a Greek (formerly Romanian) table tennis player.[1][2] Born as Călin Creangă, he chose to defect from Communist-ruled Romania at the age of 17 (with his father) while he was participating in the European Table Tennis Youth Championships in Luxembourg in 1989.[3]

Born in Bistriţa, Romania, Kreanga started to play table tennis at the age of 7. His first coach was Gheorghe Bozga, who would later discover Mihaela Steff.

While in Luxembourg, he received an offer to play in Greece, so he decided to move there. Being a minor, he quickly acquired Greek citizenship, and changed his name to Kalinikos Kreanga.[3]

He has been one of the dominant European table tennis players since the beginning of the 1990s, and uses the shakehand grip to hold the racket. His favorite offensive weapons seem to be the forehand topspin and an incredibly strong backhand topspin. His backhand topspin is regarded as one of the most devastating in the history of the game, not limited by its unorthodox technique.

In 2004 he reached No 7 in the World Rankings.[4]

Team history

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  • A.C. Zografou (Greece) (until 1995)
  • Finower TTC (1995/96; 2. Bundesliga, Germany)
  • Royal Villette Charleroi, (Belgium), since 1996)
  • TTC Weinheim (2.BL, Germany)
  • TTF Ochsenhausen (Germany)
  • Montpellier TT (France)
  • Hennebont (France)

Results

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Bronze medal in the mixed doubles competition at the World Championships, Chiba City, 1991.[5]

Winner of the European Championships in mixed doubles (1992) and men's doubles (1994). Runner-up in men's singles (2002).

Bronze medal in the singles competition at the World Championships, Paris, 2003.[6]

Runner-up at the Men's World Cup in 2003 and 2004.

Winner of the Europe Top-12, 2011.

See also

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Notes

[edit]
  1. 1 2 "Biography". ITTF. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 25 February 2011.
  2. ↑ "Biography of KREANGA Kalinikos". ITTF. Archived from the original on 18 January 2011. Retrieved 25 February 2011.
  3. 1 2 Roxana Maha (8 July 2005). "Creanga a ajuns celebru si bogat din ping-pong". Cotidianul.ro (in Romanian).[permanent dead link]
  4. ↑ "ITTF - World Ranking - KREANGA Kalinikos". ranking.ittf.com. Retrieved 2022-06-21.
  5. ↑ "ITTF Statistics". ITTF. Archived from the original on 13 July 2011. Retrieved 25 February 2011.
  6. ↑ "Kalinikos Kreanga, the Irrepressible Greek". TableTennisMaster.com. Archived from the original on 14 February 2012. Retrieved 25 February 2011.
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