Sarkis Asatovich Sarchayan (; 26 November 1947 - 21 January 2021), was a male former international

table tennis Table tennis (also known as ping-pong) is a racket sport derived from tennis but distinguished by its playing surface being atop a stationary table, rather than the Tennis court, court on which players stand. Either individually or in teams of ...

player from

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. At his peak, he was ranked 7th in the World Rankings.

Career

Junior career

In his childhood, Sarchayan played football and he began playing table tennis at the age of 11 in

Batumi Batumi (; ka, ბათუმი ), historically Batum or Batoum, is the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), second-largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia and the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, located on the coast ...

. In 1965, he was a part of the Soviet team that won the team event of the European Youth Championships in

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. A year later in

Kaunas Kaunas (; ) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius, the fourth largest List of cities in the Baltic states by population, city in the Baltic States and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaun ...

, he won his first gold medal at the Soviet National Championships, winning the doubles event.

International career

In 1966, Sarchayan made his debut at the

European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

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. He helped the Soviet team to win the silver medal in team event. Since this tournament, Sarchayan was a regular national team member until 1978. Sarchayan did not lose a single game in the team event of the

1973 World Table Tennis Championships The 1973 World Table tennis, Table Tennis Championships were held in Sarajevo from April 5 to April 15, 1973. Medalists Team Individual References External linksITTF Museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:World Table Tennis Championships, 1973 1973 Wo ...

, helping the Soviet team to win bronze medals. The Soviets barely lost to the eventual champions,

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

team 4-5, but Sarchayan won all three of his games. In the next edition of the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

, Sarchayan won a

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

in the mixed doubles event with Elmira Antonyan, losing their compatriots Stanislav Gomozkov and Zoja Rudnova in the final. Sarchayan played his last major tournament in 1978 in

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, where the

were held. He finished the tournament with two bronze medals on his account, in mixed doubles and team events. Sarchayan participated in four Europe Top 16 editions, his best being the 3rd place finish in 1976 tournament.

Accolades

On the professional circuit, he won one singles and eight doubles titles in his career. Sarchayan retired as the most successful player in the Soviet Championships history with a total of 26 gold medals. Five of them, in singles event.

Death

In 2021, Sarchayan died from

coronavirus Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the comm ...

at the age of 77.

External links

Sarkis Sarchayan at Table Tennis MediaSarkis Sarchayan at Table Tennis Guide

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sarchayan, Sarkis 1947 births Soviet table tennis players World Table Tennis Championships medalists Sportspeople from Batumi