Maria Alexandru
Maria Alexandru (* 30th December 1939 in Plugova as Maria Golopenta ) is a former Romanian table tennis player . Between 1953 and 1980 she won several titles at European and World Championships.
Success in Eastern Europe
From 1962 to 1979 she won the Romanian championship 15 times in singles and 16 times in doubles (with the following partners: once Georgita Pitica , three times Ella Zeller-Constantinescu , three times Eleonora Vlaicov , once Magdalena Leszay , twice Carmen Crișan , three times Viorica Moldovan and three times Liana Mihuț ).
At the Balkan Championships she was represented 14 times between 1963 and 1979. She was eight times winner in singles, five times she finished 2. In doubles she won 11 titles, twice she lost in the final. Her mixed record was seven wins and four runners-up. In addition, there were 13 first places with the Romanian team.
European tournaments
In 1956 and 1958 she took part in the European Youth Championship. Here she won the title in singles, doubles and with the team every time, and in 1958 in mixed competition.
In the adult category, she was represented ten times at European championships . In 1966 she was European champion in singles in London (before Swetlana Grinberg ), in 1976 she reached the final. In doubles, she won the title in 1960 (with Angelica Rozeanu ) and 1978 (with Liana Mihuț ), in 1974 and 1980 she came in second. In 1960 she still won the mixed (with Gheorghe Cobirzan ).
She was nominated seven times for the European ranking tournament Europe TOP-12 between 1972 and 1979. She took second place in 1972 (behind Beatrix Kisházi ), 1974 (behind Soja Rudnowa ) and 1979 (behind Gabriella Szabó ).
World championships
She represented Romania at world championships twelve times , for the first time in 1953 in Bucharest, and for the last time when she was almost 39 years old in 1979 in Pyongyang. Here she was three times world champion in doubles: 1961 with Georgita Pitica, 1973 with Miho Hamada (Japan) and 1975 with Shoko Takahashi (Japan). She won the vice world championship in 1963 in singles, in 1969 in doubles with Eleonora Vlaicov and in 1971 in mixed with Antun Stipančić .
End of career
In 1980 she ended her international career. This year she was signed to Germany by VSC Donauwörth for the women's Bundesliga . At the end of the 1980/81 season she went back to Romania.
Results from the ITTF database
Association | event | year | place | country | singles | Double | Mixed | team |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ROU | Balkan Championship | 1979 | Athens | GRE | silver | 1 | ||
ROU | Balkan Championship | 1978 | Nis | YUG | gold | gold | 1 | |
ROU | Balkan Championship | 1977 | Brasov | ROU | gold | silver | 1 | |
ROU | Balkan Championship | 1976 | Samsun | DOOR | silver | gold | gold | 1 |
ROU | Balkan Championship | 1974 | Athens | GRE | silver | gold | ||
ROU | Balkan Championship | 1972 | Ankara | DOOR | gold | gold | gold | 1 |
ROU | Balkan Championship | 1971 | Brasov | ROU | gold | gold | gold | 1 |
ROU | Balkan Championship | 1970 | Sofia | BUL | gold | gold | gold | 1 |
ROU | Balkan Championship | 1968 | Skopje | YUG | silver | gold | silver | 1 |
ROU | Balkan Championship | 1967 | Antalya | DOOR | gold | gold | 1 | |
ROU | Balkan Championship | 1966 | Brasov | ROU | silver | gold | silver | 1 |
ROU | Balkan Championship | 1965 | Sofia | BUL | gold | gold | gold | 1 |
ROU | Balkan Championship | 1964 | Athens | GRE | silver | gold | silver | 1 |
ROU | Balkan Championship | 1963 | Athens | GRE | gold | gold | silver | 1 |
ROU | European Championship | 1980 | Bern | SUI | last 16 | silver | ||
ROU | European Championship | 1978 | Duisburg | FRG | last 16 | gold | ||
ROU | European Championship | 1976 | Prague | TCH | silver | |||
ROU | European Championship | 1974 | Novi Sad | YUG | silver | Semifinals | ||
ROU | European Championship | 1972 | Rotterdam | NED | Semifinals | Semifinals | Quarter finals | |
ROU | European Championship | 1970 | Moscow | URS | Semifinals | Semifinals | ||
ROU | European Championship | 1968 | Lyon | FRA | Semifinals | silver | ||
ROU | European Championship | 1966 | London | CLOSELY | gold | Quarter finals | Semifinals | |
ROU | European Championship | 1964 | Malmo | SWE | last 16 | silver | Quarter finals | |
ROU | European Championship | 1960 | Zagreb | YUG | last 16 | gold | gold | |
ROU | European Youth Championship (Juniors) | 1958 | Falkenberg | SWE | gold | gold | gold | 1 |
ROU | European Youth Championship (Juniors) | 1956 | Opatija | YUG | gold | gold | 1 | |
ROU | EURO TOP12 | 1979 | Kristianstad | SWE | 2 | |||
ROU | EURO TOP12 | 1977 | Sarajevo | YUG | 4th | |||
ROU | EURO TOP12 | 1976 | Lübeck | FRG | 5 | |||
ROU | EURO TOP12 | 1975 | Vienna | AUT | 4th | |||
ROU | EURO TOP12 | 1974 | Trollhatten | SWE | 2 | |||
ROU | EURO TOP12 | 1973 | Boeblingen | FRG | 5 | |||
ROU | EURO TOP12 | 1972 | Zagreb | YUG | 2 | |||
ROU | World Championship | 1979 | Pyongyang | PRK | last 32 | last 16 | last 32 | 10 |
ROU | World Championship | 1977 | Birmingham | CLOSELY | last 16 | last 16 | no participants | 13 |
ROU | World Championship | 1975 | Calcutta | IND | Quarter finals | gold | no participants | 9 |
ROU | World Championship | 1973 | Sarajevo | YUG | last 16 | gold | Quarter finals | 6th |
ROU | World Championship | 1971 | Nagoya | JPN | last 16 | last 16 | silver | 6th |
ROU | World Championship | 1969 | Munich | FRG | Semifinals | silver | last 32 | 2 |
ROU | World Championship | 1967 | Stockholm | SWE | Quarter finals | last 16 | Semifinals | 6th |
ROU | World Championship | 1965 | Ljubljana | YUG | Quarter finals | Quarter finals | last 16 | 4th |
ROU | World Championship | 1963 | Prague | TCH | silver | Quarter finals | last 32 | 2 |
ROU | World Championship | 1961 | Beijing | CHN | last 16 | gold | last 32 | 3 |
ROU | World Championship | 1957 | Stockholm | SWE | last 16 | Semifinals | last 64 | 2 |
ROU | World Championship | 1953 | Bucharest | ROU | last 64 | last 16 | Scratched |
literature
- Uwe Freise: Why should I stop? , DTS magazine 1978/7 page 15
- Ella Constantinescu: At 38 years old still one of the best , DTS magazine 1978/10 pages 15–16
Web links
- Anonimatul, drama unei sportive de top , interview by Daniela Ionescu with Maria Alexandru from January 20, 2011 in Romania Libera, accessed October 2, 2015 (Romanian)
Individual evidence
- ↑ DTS magazine , 1980/13 page 5.
- ↑ DTS magazine , 1981/12 page 8.
- ^ Maria Alexandru Results from the ITTF database on ittf.com (accessed September 3, 2011).
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Alexandru, Maria |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Golopenta, Maria |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Romanian table tennis player |
DATE OF BIRTH | December 30, 1939 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Plugova |