Stanislav Gomozkov (; born 3 August 1948) is a former male 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 the

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 5th in the World Rankings.

Career

Junior success

Gomozkov began playing table tennis at the age of 11. In 1965, he won his first USSR champion's title at the age of 17. The same year, Gomozkov became the European Youth champion in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

. A year later, he repeated his success in the

Szombathely } Szombathely (; ; also see #Etymology, names) is the 10th largest city in Hungary. It is the administrative centre of Vas County in the west of the country, located near the border with Austria. Szombathely lies by the streams ''Perint'' and '' ...

International career

In 1966, Gomozkov made his debut in the major tournaments and was a part of the

team that won the silver medal 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 ...

team event. He also won a medal in the doubles event together with Anatoly Amelin. Since 1966, Gomozkov was a regular member of the Soviet team up until 1977

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 ...

in Birmingham. In total, Gomozkov won four

medals including a

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

in the Mixed Doubles event with Tatiana Ferdman at the

World Table Tennis Championships The World Table Tennis Championships are table tennis competitions sanctioned by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF). The World Championships have been held since 1926, biennially since 1957. Five individual events, which include men ...

in 1975. Gomozkov also was a 4-time

European champion 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 to a ...

in mixed doubles event, winning four consecutive titles from 1968 to 1974. He competed in

Europe Top-16 The Europe Top 16, also known as the Europe Top 16 Cup and previously known as the Europe Top 12, is a table tennis tournament organised annually by the European Table Tennis Union (ETTU), featuring the highest-ranked players in Europe. History ...

competition three times, with his best achievement being 5th place in 1972. Gomozkov retired from the international arena after 1977 World Championships in Birmingham, where he finished a tournament in the Round of 32 after a loss to

Czechoslovak Czechoslovak may refer to: *A demonym or adjective pertaining to Czechoslovakia (1918–93) **First Czechoslovak Republic (1918–38) **Second Czechoslovak Republic (1938–39) **Third Czechoslovak Republic (1948–60) ** Fourth Czechoslovak Repu ...

star

Milan Orlowski Milan Orlowski (born 7 September 1952 in Prague) is a former Czech table tennis player. He is a former representative of Czechoslovakia. vice-champion of the world, champion of Europe, meritorious master of sports and member of the Hall of Fame o ...

. The following year, he won his final medals at the Soviet Championships, reaching the singles finals, and then he switched to coaching career.

Accolades

On the professional tour circuit, Gomozkov won 5 singles and 16 doubles event titles, including seven

English Open The English Open was a professional golf tournament held in England. First played in 1988, it was an annual event on the European Tour until 2002. After several aborted attempts at reviving the tournament, it returned to the tour schedule in 20 ...

titles from 1967/68 to 1976/77, three men's singles, three men's double and one mixed double titles. Gomozkov is one of the most successful players in the Soviet Championships history with a total of 16 gold medals. Only

Sarkis Sarchayan Sarkis Asatovich Sarchayan (; 26 November 1947 - 21 January 2021), was a male former international table tennis player from Soviet Union. At his peak, he was ranked 7th in the World Rankings. Career Junior career In his childhood, Sarchayan pl ...

has won more (26) medals.

Personal life

In 1997, Gomozkov married the Soviet table tennis player

Fliura Abbate-Bulatova Fliura Askarovna Abbate-Bulatova (, born 9 September 1963) is a former Soviet and then Italian table tennis player. Born in 1963 in Uzbekistan, then part of USSR, her main achievement has been the gold medal in the single competition at the Table ...

. For many years, Gomozkov was her coach. He has two sons - Alexander and Dmitriy.

References

External links

Stanislav Gomozkov
at Table Tennis Media Soviet table tennis players Living people 1948 births {{Europe-tabletennis-bio-stub