Mark Hazinski

Mark Hazinski
Mark Hazinski practicing before a match.
Born April 20, 1985 (1985-04-20) (age 33)
South Bend, Indiana, U.S.
Residence Plano, Texas, U.S.
Nationality United States
Education Sports Medicine (Bachelor of Science)
Alma mater Texas Wesleyan University
Occupation Professional Table Tennis Athlete & Head Coach of North Texas Table Tennis Center
Years active 1994-Current
Notable work 2004 USA Olympic Athlete
Style Shakehand Attacker (Right Hand)
Home town Plano, TX
Height 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight 185 lb (84 kg)
Spouse(s) Shu (Sara) Hazinski
Medal record
Men's table tennis
Representing  United States
Pan American Games
2007 Rio de Janeiro Team

Mark "Haz" Hazinski (born April 20, 1985 in South Bend, Indiana) is an American professional table tennis athlete. He started playing table tennis at the age of 9 and by the age of 15 had became the youngest player in the history of United States Table Tennis to make the United States Men's National Table Tennis Team. Hazinski simultaneously represented the United States Men's Team and United States Junior Team for 4 consecutive years (2000-2003).

As a youth Hazinski was professionally trained by United States Olympic Head Coach Danny Seemiller and United States Junior Coach Mark Nordby. Hazinski spent multiple years (2004–2006) playing professional sports leagues in Germany and Sweden. In 2007 Mark decided to put his professional career on hold to attend Texas Wesleyan University on a full scholarship for academics and Table Tennis.

Mark Hazinski (right) hits a backhand shot during the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.

Career

Hazinski's professional career can be dated back to 2000, at the age of 15 when he first made the United States Men's National Team. Here are many of Hazinski's top accolades during that time period:

In Hazinski's early career he enjoyed training and playing professionally in Europe. From 2004-05 he played for Oberalster VFW Club in Hamburg, Germany and in 2005-06 he played for Ängby Sportklubb in Stockholm, Sweden. After his season ended in Sweden, Hazinski decided to further pursue an education and attended Texas Wesleyan University, located in Ft. Worth, Texas. While attending Texas Wesleyan University (TWU), he held the # 1 Collegiate Table Tennis position for over 200 consecutive weeks, making him one of the most dominant collegiate players of all time.[1]

Personal life

Mark Hazinski (left) with others at a China/USA Ping Pong Diplomacy Reunion.

Hazinski married Shu "Sara" Fu in December 2008. Sara is from Chengdu, China but moved to the United States in 2005 to play and coach table tennis in California. Mark graduated from Texas Wesleyan University in May 2012 with a B.S. degree in Sports Medicine.

As of 2018, Hazinski is a head coach at North Texas Table Tennis Center and a professional table tennis athlete that competes in major United States table tennis sanctioned tournaments. He and wife Sara also own several Blackball Dessert franchises around the Plano, Texas area.

Hazinski is an avid golfer and Dallas Mavericks basketball fan. He is friends with Dallas Mavericks Head Coach Rick Carlisle and has done table tennis exhibitions during the halftime entertainment periods for the Dallas Mavericks regular season games.

References

  1. ↑ "Mark Hazinski". tabletennis.teamusa.org. USA Table Tennis. Archived from the original on April 29, 2011.
  • Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill. "Mark Hazinski". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved May 21, 2010.
  • "Mark Hazinski". teamusa.org. Team USA.
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