Ilija Lupulesku

Infobox Tabletennis player
playername= Ilija Lupulesku


imagesize=
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fullname = Ilija Lupulesku
nicknames =
nationality = SRB
playingstyle = Left-handed
birthdate = birth date and age|1967|10|30
birthplace = Uzdin, Serbia
height = 5'11"
deathdate =
deathplace =|

Ilija Lupulesku (born October 30, 1967 in Uzdin) is a former Yugoslav and now American table tennis player who competed in the 1988 Summer Olympics, in the 1992 Summer Olympics, in the 1996 Summer Olympics, in the 2000 Summer Olympics, and in the 2004 Summer Olympics. Ilija Lupulesku played his first game of table tennis at age nine in his small hometown of Uzdin, Yugoslavia. After seeing other children playing at his local school, Lupi picked up a paddle and began what would become his life's ambition. Despite his love and talent for soccer, Lupi, under the watchful eye of first coach Jon Bosika, committed himself to training and by age 14 was the top player on the Yugoslavian Junior National Table Tennis Team.Over the next 12 years, Lupi would rise through the ranks of the world's best players and become one of the largest celebrities in his native Yugoslavia.

Early career

In 1988 he won the Seul Olympic silver medal in the men's doubles together with Zoran Primorac. In 1991 regarded as one of the best players in the sport and also made up one-half of what many at the time called the greatest doubles team ever. Between 1989 and 1991, Lupi and doubles mate Zoran Primorac reached the semifinals or finals of every major tournament in the world. But by the end of 1991, war ripped through the region and the Croatian Primorac and Yugoslavian Lupulesku were no longer permitted to play together. While Primorac moved on to live and play in Belgium, Lupi remained in Yugoslavia and joined the military, where he continued to train.

Four years later he competed as an Independent Olympic Participant but was eliminated in the first round in singles and in the quarterfinals in doubles.

In 1996 and 2000 he again competed for Yugoslavia and in 2004 he participated for the United States.

From 1992 to 1997 he was married to Jasna Fazlić.

Recent career

His natural quickness and instincts for the sport combined with unmatched control and a left-handed trickiness have made Lupi one of the world's toughest match-ups and a feared competitor to this day. as the elder statesman of team Killerspin, Lupi has taken on the dual role of player and coach for the team's young stars. While still playing at a world-class level, Lupi is overseeing the training of American phenom Mark Hazinski and has embraced his role as Killerspin's resident mentor. He is also arguably one of the top two or three best players on U.S. soil.

Lupi has a message for young players who have a desire to one day compete at a world-class level: "Young players need to practice hard, as many as four hours a day and also do something for physical conditioning, for speed" Lupulesku says. "After one year of training, young players need to compete somewhere in tournaments. It doesn't matter where. You need to face many different players because if you do not face players with different styles, it is very hard to become a good player yourself." "When I was young, just starting, I played all the tournaments I could. When you play tournaments you will lose in the beginning, but that's ok. After a time you will gain important experience from those tournaments and you will start to beat some good players. If you only practice and do not play tournaments, you will never know how good you really are." [ [http://www.killerspin.com/ Killerspin Biography] ]

Results and Accomplishments

*2005 US Nationals Champion
*2003 US Nationals Champion
*2002 U.S. Men’s Singles Champion
*2002 U.S. Open Elite Singles
*2001 & 2002 North American Team Champion
*1990 European Men’s Doubles Champion, 3-time Runner-up
*1988 Olympic Silver Medalist, Men’s Doubles
*1987 World Championships Men’s Doubles Finalist
*Two-time European Mixed Doubles Champion, 2-time Runner-up.
*Four-time Yugoslavian Men’s Singles Champion,
*10-time Men’s Doubles and 10-time Mixed Doubles Champion

External links

* [http://www.ittf.com/ittf_stats/All_events3.asp?ID=4394&NAMES=LUPULESKU+Ilija+%28USA%29&Assoc1=USA&Assoc=&s_Gender=&s_Names=Lupulesku& playing record]
* [http://www.databaseolympics.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=LUPULILI01 profile]

References