Marina Kravchenko

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Marina Kravchenko (born May 19, 1975, in Ukraine) is an Israeli table tennis player.

[edit] Table tennis career

Kravchenko began playing table tennis at age seven under the tutelage of her father, who coached the Ukrainian national team.

In 1987, Kravchenko represented the Ukraine in the European Championships, and won the silver medal in singles, and bronze in doubles, as the Ukraine won a team silver.

She twice finished 2nd in the USSR Youth Championships, and came in 1st in the TOP 12 tournament.

In 1991, Kravchenko was a member of the Soviet table tennis team, helping it win the European Championships gold medal.

In 1994 she moved to Israel after falling in love with an Israeli coach (her future husband) during the Maccabiah Games competition.

After moving to Israel, she was signed by the Nazareth Elite table tennis club. Beitar Rishon Le Zion then tempted her away. Her team won 8 straight national titles after she joined.

In 2002 she won the St. Petersburg Open and, in 2003 she came in second in a Finnish open event.

Kravchenko entered the pre-Olympic event in Luxembourg, needing an 11th-place finish to achieve the Israeli Olympic criteria. She finished 8th and was guaranteed a spot in the squad. She finished 7th in a Gold Cup event in the Ukraine in 2004 as well.

[edit] Olympics

At the 2004 Athens Olympics in the first round of the singles table tennis event she breezed past her Greek opponent Archontoula Volakaki, 11-6, 11-5, 11-4, 11-5, and advanced to the 2nd round. The following day, her opponent was Otilia Badescu of Romania, European Champion and ranked 6th in the world. She won the first two sets 11-6, 11-9, before the Romanian came back with a 4-11 game in the 3rd. Kravchenko won the last game 11-6, thus causing a major upset. The Israeli was beaten in the 3rd round by Croatian Tamara Boros (ranked 5th in the competition).