Vladimir Samsonov

Vladimir Samsonov or Uładzimir Samsonaŭ (Belarusian: Уладзімір Віктаравіч Самсонаў, born April 17, 1976) is a 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]

Vladimir Samsonov
Uładzimir Samsonaŭ
Samsonov at the 2013 World Championships
Personal information
Full nameVladimir Viktorovich Samsonov; Uładzimir Viktaravich Samsonaŭ
Nickname(s)Vladi
Nationality Belarus
Born (1976-04-17) April 17, 1976[1]
Minsk, Belarus[2]
Playing styleRight-handed, shakehand grip
Equipment(s)Tibhar: blade – Samsonov Force Pro Black Edition, rubbers – Evolution MX-S
Highest ranking1[3]
Current ranking27 (March 2020)
ClubRoyal Villette Charleroi[2]
Height190 cm (6 ft 3 in)[4]
Weight83 kg (183 lb)

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-times European champion (1998, 2003, 2005) and three-times 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]

Personal life

Since the age of seven, Samsonov has been coached by Alexandre Petkevich.

References
  1. "ITTF player's profile". International Table Tennis Federation. Archived from the original on June 16, 2011. Retrieved August 15, 2010.
  2. "Vladimir Samsonov". Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 17, 2020. Retrieved August 18, 2010.
  3. "ITTF Museum". International Table Tennis Federation. Retrieved December 26, 2010.
  4. Vladimir Samsonov Archived October 13, 2016, at the Wayback Machine. rio2016.com
  5. "ITTF Ranking List (Men)". International Table Tennis Federation.
  6. Vladimir Samsonov. nbcolympics.com
  7. 27th Gold for Samsonov ittf.com
  8. Award Winners Archived April 18, 2016, at the Wayback Machine. ittf.com
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