The Most Famous
TABLE TENNIS PLAYERS from Romania
This page contains a list of the greatest Romanian Table Tennis Players. The pantheon dataset contains 107 Table Tennis Players, 3 of which were born in Romania. This makes Romania the birth place of the 8th most number of Table Tennis Players behind Hungary, and North Korea.
Top 4
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Romanian Table Tennis Players of all time. This list of famous Romanian Table Tennis Players is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.
1. Angelica Rozeanu (1921 - 2006)
With an HPI of 59.42, Angelica Rozeanu is the most famous Romanian Table Tennis Player. Her biography has been translated into 19 different languages on wikipedia.
Angelica Rozeanu (née Adelstein) (15 October 1921 – 21 February 2006) was a Romanian table tennis player of Jewish origin, the most successful female table tennis player in the history of the sport, winning the women's world singles title 6 years in succession.
2. Kalinikos Kreanga (b. 1972)
With an HPI of 41.65, Kalinikos Kreanga is the 2nd most famous Romanian Table Tennis Player. His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.
Kalinikos Kreanga (born March 8, 1972) is a Greek (formerly Romanian) table tennis player. 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. 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. 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 history of the game, not limited by its unorthodox technique. In 2004 he reached No 7 in the World Rankings.
3. Otilia Bădescu (b. 1970)
With an HPI of 35.89, Otilia Bădescu is the 3rd most famous Romanian Table Tennis Player. Her biography has been translated into 16 different languages.
Otilia Bădescu, born 31 October 1970 in Bucharest, Romania, is a former Romanian table tennis player.
4. Bernadette Szőcs (b. 1995)
With an HPI of 32.08, Bernadette Szőcs is the 4th most famous Romanian Table Tennis Player. Her biography has been translated into 15 different languages.
Bernadette Cynthia Szőcs (Hungarian: Szőcs Bernadette Cynthia; born 5 March 1995) is a professional table tennis player from Romania. She is the incumbent European games champion in women's singles and a three time Olympian, having participated in 2016, 2020 and 2024 editions of summer Olympics.
People
Pantheon has 4 people classified as Romanian table tennis players born between 1921 and 1995. Of these 4, 3 (75.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Romanian table tennis players include Kalinikos Kreanga, Otilia Bădescu, and Bernadette Szőcs. The most famous deceased Romanian table tennis players include Angelica Rozeanu. As of April 2024, 1 new Romanian table tennis players have been added to Pantheon including Bernadette Szőcs.
Living Romanian Table Tennis Players
Go to all Rankings
Kalinikos Kreanga
1972 - Present
HPI: 41.65
Otilia Bădescu
1970 - Present
HPI: 35.89
Bernadette Szőcs
1995 - Present
HPI: 32.08
