Kreanga, Kalinikos

Kalinikos Kreanga was born in 1972 in the Romanian city of Bistrita . Here, at the age of 7, he began playing table tennis. From the age of 12, Creanga began to be involved in the youth team of Romania. In 1988, Kalinikos won his first medal at the European Championships. In a doublesteer together with Otilia Bedescu, a young Romanian athlete won a bronze medal.

In 1989, during the tournament in Luxembourg, Kreanga (with his father) left the location of the Romanian national team and went to Greece. There, after some time, he received Greek citizenship, and also changed his name from Calin to a more Greek Kalinikos.

In 1991, Creanga first appeared at the World Championships . Despite the change of citizenship Kalinikos continued to perform in the mixed doubles with Bedescu. Teamwork of the couple played an important role and the international duet won the bronze medal of the world championship. And in 1992 Kreanga and Badescu became European champions . In the future, this pair became silver medalists of the European championships twice. In 1994, Kalinikos, in doubles with Zoran Kalinic, received his second gold medal in the continental championships.

In 1996, Kreanga made his debut at the Summer Olympics . In Atlanta Kalinikos made only singles. In his group, the Greek athlete scored two wins in three matches, but this did not help Kreang out into the next round of competition. In 1997 Kreanga won the singles tournament at the Mediterranean Games .

At the 2000 Summer Olympics, Kreanga, in addition to singles, also performed in doubles. In the individual championship, Kalinikos overcame the group stage, but flew out in the first round of the playoffs. In the doubles, Kreanga performed with Daniel Ziokas , but the Greek couple could not get into the playoffs, losing the only ticket to the athletes from Hong Kong. The year 2003 was one of the most successful in the career of a Greek athlete. At the World Championships in Paris, Kreanga won the bronze medal, and won the silver medal at the World Cup that same year. A year later, Kalinikos also won the silver of the World Cup .

In 2004, Kreanga failed to show any significant results at the Summer Olympics in Athens . Kalinikos lost to the 1/16 finals in the singles match to Swede Jorgen Persson , and in the doubles match the Greek duo took off in the second round, losing to the Japanese athletes.

In 2008, Creanga spoke at its fourth Summer Olympics . In singles, Kalinikos again stopped at the stage of the 1/16 finals, losing to the future silver medalists Chinese Wang Hao . In the team tournament, the Greek national team ranked third in Group A and could not get to the next round. In 2011, Kreanga took part in Euro-Top12 11 times and managed to finally become the winner of a prestigious tournament. On May 16, 2011, the International Table Tennis Federation published a list of 28 athletes who received Olympic licenses to participate in the 2012 Summer Olympics and Kreang, joining the list, received the opportunity to participate in their fifth Olympic Games.

At the Games in London, Kreanga, sown under the 29th number, began his performances from the third round . At this stage, he was confronted by the most experienced Belgian Jean-Michel Sev . In the course of the fight, Kreanga lost to the Belgian only one game and fairly confidently made it into the next round. In the 1/16 final, Kalinikos met with another European Danish, Mikael Mace . To identify the winner, tennis players had to play 6 sets, Mace turned out to be stronger, and he continued the fight for the Olympic medals.

Kreanga, like most modern players, plays an attacking style. Known for its top left spin technique (closed racket), it is believed that the closed racket kick at Kreangi is one of the strongest in the world. ^[2]

Gaming

Singles

• Bronze medalist of the World Championship : 2003 ;
• World Cup silver medalist: 2003 , 2004 ;
• Silver medalist of the European Championship : 2002 ;
• Bronze medalist of the European Championship : 2005 ;
• Champion of the Mediterranean Games : 1997 ;
• Silver medalist of the Mediterranean Games : 1991 ;
• Winner of 3 ITTF Pro-Tour tournaments;
• Winner of Euro-Top12 (2011);
• European cadet champion: 1986;
• Multiple champion of Greece.

Double discharge

• European Champion : 1994 (paired with Zoran Kalinic );
• Silver medalist of the European Championship : 1998 , 2000 (together with Ilia Lupulescu ), 2005 (together with Vladimir Samsonov );
• Bronze medalist of the European Championship : 1996 (together with Zoran Kalinic );
• Winner of 2 ITTF Pro Tour Tournaments;

Mixt

• Bronze medalist of the World Championship : 1991 (paired with Otilia Bedescu );
• European Champion : 1992 (paired with Otilia Bedescu );
• European Championship silver medalist: 1994 , 1996 (paired with Otilia Bedescu );
• Bronze medalist of the European Championship : 1988 (paired with Otilia Bedescu );

• Kalinikos Kreanga - Olympic statistics on Sports-Reference.com (English)
• Biography on ittf.com (eng.)
• Performance statistics on ittf.com (eng.)
• Dynamics of rating change on ittf.com (inaccessible link) (English)