Interview with Greece's Kalinikos Kreanga

By Dr. Marius Weschler

At this year’s NATT Team Championships, I was able to spend a few minutes with Kalinikos Kreanga, the top player of the winning Chicago Killerspin team, and one of the top players in Europe, ranked #18 on the Nov. ITTF world list. Mr. Kreanga has been a member of the Greek national team for 14 years, representing Greece at the last three Olympic Games, as well as many World Championships. He had a fourth-place finish at the World Cup in 1992, was the European Doubles Champion in 1994 (and runner-up the last two times), and finished third in Mixed Doubles at one World Championships. Note – a few days after the Teams, Kreanga would make the semifinals of the Danish ITTF Pro Tour, with wins over Liu Guoliang and Jean-Michel Saive.

This was your first NATT Teams Tournament. How did you come to join your team and how did you like the tournament?

I enjoyed the tournament and might very well return in the future. I was invited by Ilija Lupulesku, with whom I had won the European Doubles title in the past. Ilija is a member of the Chicago table tennis club that sponsored the team. It also gave me an opportunity to visit my sister, now living in Portland, Oregon.

Congratulation on your team’s win. Unfortunately, the final stages of the tournament were marked by controversy (see Tim Boggan’s coverage of the NATT Teams). Were you uncomfortable at all with the officiating?

If an umpire or referee had told me I could leave the court in the middle of a match, I would have personally refused. Something similar happened to me three years ago at the European Masters. In the middle of a match, my rubber surface got scratched against the table during a shot. I did not have another racket and was defaulted when I removed my rubber surface on the playing court. [Mr. Kreanga did not display any sign of resentment when relaying this event, something I found rather remarkable.]

How did you get started in table tennis?

I come from a family of sports fans. I was born in the Romanian part of Moldavia and started playing at the age of seven. I left Romania when I was 17, partially in order to be able to participate freely in European competitions and have a chance to improve my game. Many other Romanian-born table tennis players like George Bohm, Olga Nemes, Nataniel Tsiokas, Paul Haldan, and Horatio Pintea have done the same. I escaped with my father while at a tournament in Luxembourg (athletes usually asked for political asylum while at a tournament in a foreign country). My mother joined us years later (the old communist regimes would not allow whole families to go abroad for fear of such defections).

How do you like your training arrangements in Greece?

I like the arrangements there. We have six full-time training centers throughout Greece. Current team members and potential team members selected from school clubs train at these locations. There is not a lot of international level competition, but the training is good and the centers are in full use.

What do you think of the ability of the Chinese players to consistently dominate the rest of the world in this sport? Is it due to innovations in playing technique like Ma Lin’s or Liu Guoliang’s reverse backhand loops?

No, the innovations largely come from Europe, but they perfect it and do it better than anyone else. Backhand looping in general is exactly such an example. However, it is not surprising that they are able to achieve such domination. After all, they have about a million professional players. As for the reverse backhand penhold loop, they don’t really use that against us in serious match situations.

It is somewhat difficult in this country to motivate young athletes to join a sport without the promise of fame or at least financial security. Some of our greatest champions have left the sport in order to secure a living in fields totally unrelated to the sport that gave them so much, and to which they dedicated such a large part of their youth. Are you worried about your future after your international career is over?

Not really. I am only 29 and expect to be performing at a top level for another 6 or 7 years. Top table tennis players have actually been better compensated in the past 15 years, even before the Kenshoen Circuit. Top European table tennis stars can expect annual incomes of around a half million dollars from playing tournaments and from sponsorship contracts. If you do not aim for an extravagant lifestyle and do not squander your income, as a top player you can secure yourself an adequate life even after your competitive years are done.

Why haven’t you joined the Kenshoen Circuit in Japan (a series of round robin singles matches between top players, played in Japan, where the winner wins $1 million)?

I have been invited, but in order to join I would have to forego attending most other international tournaments. Besides, there is also some significant monetary incentive for winning points on the Pro Tour Circuit. Still, I may be interested in joining the Kenshoen Circuit sometime in the next couple of years.

How do you maintain your focus for big matches? What kind of mental training do you do?

There is no special training. I play so many big matches that big points or big matches become routine.

Does your table tennis career allow you time for a personal life? Do you have a wife or children? Do you have time for other hobbies or sports?

No to all three.