Vladimir Samsonov
Vladimir Samsonov Uładzimir Samsonaŭ | |
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Personal information | |
Full name | Vladimir Viktorovich Samsonov; Uładzimir Viktaravich Samsonaŭ |
Nickname(s) | Vladi |
Nationality | Belarus |
Born | [1] Minsk, Belarus[2] | April 17, 1976
Playing style | Right-handed, shakehand grip |
Equipment(s) | Tibhar: blade – Samsonov Force Pro Black Edition, rubbers – Evolution MX-S |
Highest ranking | 1[3] |
Current ranking | 27 (March 2021) |
Club | Royal Villette Charleroi[2] |
Height | 190 cm (6 ft 3 in)[4] |
Weight | 83 kg (183 lb) |
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Medal record |
Vladimir Samsonov or Uładzimir Samsonaŭ (Belarusian: Уладзімір Віктаравіч Самсонаў, Russian: Владимир Викторович Самсонов, born April 17, 1976) is a former Belarusian professional table tennis player, ranked 18th as of December 2017.[5][1] He is known in China as the "Tai Chi Master" because of his superb all-around style, both offensive and defensive.[6] Samsonov competed at six consecutive Olympics between 1996 and 2016, placing fourth individually in 2000 and 2016.[2]
Career[]
Samsonov is also known as Mr. ECL (European Champions League) for participating in the tournament for at least 15 years straight and because he currently holds twelve ECL winner titles – three with Borussia, five with Charleroi, and four with Fakel Orenburg. He began his European club career when he joined Borussia Düsseldorf in 1994, then seven years later moved to Royal Charleroi in Belgium. In 2008 he moved to Spain to play for Cajagranada, but two years later he moved to the Russian superleague club Fakel Orenburg.
Samsonov is famous for being a top-10 player longer than anyone else in official ranking history save for the legend of table tennis Jan-Ove Waldner. He first joined the top-10 in 1996, then climbed to the top position in 1998. He stayed in the top-10 for 15 years until November 2011. He is ranked #18 as of December 2017.[5] He used to hold the distinction of being the player with most ITTF ProTour titles (27[7]) until Ma Long surpassed him (28). He was runner-up in the 1997 World championships, and is also a three-time European champion (1998, 2003, 2005) and three-time World Cup winner (1999, 2001, 2009).
Samsonov was awarded the Richard Bergmann Fair Play Trophy at the world championships a record three times, in 2003, 2007 and 2013.[8]
In 2021, despite qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics, his seventh time qualifying for the Olympics, Samsonov withdrew from the tournament and shortly after announced his retirement.[9]
Personal life[]
Since the age of seven, Samsonov has been coached by Alexandre Petkevich.
References[]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vladimir Samsonov. |
- ^ Jump up to: a b "ITTF player's profile". International Table Tennis Federation. Archived from the original on June 16, 2011. Retrieved August 15, 2010.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c "Vladimir Samsonov". Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 17, 2020. Retrieved August 18, 2010.
- ^ "ITTF Museum". International Table Tennis Federation. Retrieved December 26, 2010.
- ^ Vladimir Samsonov Archived October 13, 2016, at the Wayback Machine. rio2016.com
- ^ Jump up to: a b "ITTF Ranking List (Men)". International Table Tennis Federation.
- ^ Vladimir Samsonov. nbcolympics.com
- ^ 27th Gold for Samsonov ittf.com
- ^ Award Winners Archived April 18, 2016, at the Wayback Machine. ittf.com
- ^ "Timo Boll and Dimitrij Ovtcharov Withdraw From Internal Olympic Scrimmage Due To Injuries". edgesandnets.com. July 12, 2021. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
- Belarusian male table tennis players
- 1976 births
- Living people
- Table tennis players at the 1996 Summer Olympics
- Table tennis players at the 2000 Summer Olympics
- Table tennis players at the 2004 Summer Olympics
- Table tennis players at the 2008 Summer Olympics
- Table tennis players at the 2012 Summer Olympics
- Table tennis players at the 2016 Summer Olympics
- Olympic table tennis players of Belarus
- Table tennis players at the 2015 European Games
- European Games silver medalists for Belarus
- Sportspeople from Minsk
- European Games medalists in table tennis
- Table tennis players at the 2019 European Games