Kalinikos Kreanga

Kalinikos Kreanga (born March 8, 1972) is a Greek (formerly Romanian) table tennis player.[1][2] Born as Călin Creangă, he chose to defect from Communist-ruled Romania at the age of 17 (with his father) while he was participating in the European Table Tennis Youth Championships in Luxembourg in 1989.[3]

Kalinikos Kreanga
Kreanga in 2010.
Personal information
Full name	Kalinikos Kreanga
Nationality	Romania  Greece
Born	(1972-03-08) March 8, 1972 Bistriţa, Romania
Height	1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)[1]
Weight	62 kg (137 lb; 9.8 st)
Medal record Men's table tennis Representing  Greece World Championships 1991 Chiba City Mixed Doubles 2003 Paris Singles World Cup 2003 Jiangyin Singles 2004 Hangzhou Singles European Championships 1992 Stuttgart Mixed Doubles 1994 Birmingham Doubles 1994 Birmingham Mixed Doubles 1996 Bratislava Mixed Doubles 1998 Eindhoven Doubles 2000 Bremen Doubles 2002 Zagreb Singles 2005 Aarhus Doubles 2013 Schwechat Team 1996 Bratislava Doubles 2005 Aarhus Singles Representing  Romania European Championships 1988 Paris Mixed Doubles

Born in Bistriţa, Romania, Kreanga started to play table tennis at the age of 7. His first coach was Gheorghe Bozga, who would later discover Mihaela Steff.

While in Luxembourg, he received an offer to play in Greece, so he decided to move there. Being a minor, he quickly acquired Greek citizenship, and changed his name to Kalinikos Kreanga.[3]

He has been one of the dominant European table tennis players since the beginning of the 1990s, and uses the shakehand grip to hold the racket. His favorite offensive weapons seem to be the forehand topspin and an incredibly strong backhand topspin. His backhand topspin is regarded as one of the most devastating in the world, not limited by its unorthodox technique.