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[citation needed], winning the women's world singles title 6 years in succession.[1][2]

Angelica Rozeanu
Angelica Rozeanu at the 1955 World Championships
Personal information
Full nameAngelica Rozeanu-Adelstein
Nationality Romania/ Israel
Born(1921-10-15)15 October 1921
Bucharest, Romania
Died21 February 2006(2006-02-21) (aged 84)
Haifa, Israel
Medal record
Representing  Romania
World Championships
Bronze medal – third place 1957 Stockholm Doubles
Silver medal – second place 1957 Stockholm Team
Gold medal – first place 1956 Tokyo Doubles
Gold medal – first place 1956 Tokyo Team
Gold medal – first place 1955 Utrecht Singles
Gold medal – first place 1955 Utrecht Doubles
Gold medal – first place 1955 Utrecht Team
Gold medal – first place 1954 Wembley Singles
Bronze medal – third place 1954 Wembley Doubles
Gold medal – first place 1953 Bucharest Singles
Gold medal – first place 1953 Bucharest Doubles
Gold medal – first place 1953 Bucharest Mixed doubles
Gold medal – first place 1953 Bucharest Team
Gold medal – first place 1952 Bombay Singles
Gold medal – first place 1952 Bombay Mixed doubles
Silver medal – second place 1952 Bombay Team
Gold medal – first place 1951 Vienna Singles
Silver medal – second place 1951 Vienna Doubles
Gold medal – first place 1951 Vienna Mixed doubles
Gold medal – first place 1951 Vienna Team
Gold medal – first place 1950 Budapest Singles
Silver medal – second place 1950 Budapest Doubles
Bronze medal – third place 1950 Budapest Mixed doubles
Gold medal – first place 1950 Budapest Team
Bronze medal – third place 1948 Wembley Singles
Bronze medal – third place 1948 Wembley Mixed doubles
Bronze medal – third place 1948 Wembley Team
Silver medal – second place 1939 Cairo Doubles
Bronze medal – third place 1939 Cairo Team
Bronze medal – third place 1937 Baden Mixed doubles
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 1960 Zagreb Doubles
Silver medal – second place 1960 Zagreb Mixed doubles
Bronze medal – third place 1958 Budapest Singles
Gold medal – first place 1958 Budapest Doubles
Bronze medal – third place 1958 Budapest Mixed doubles
Silver medal – second place 1958 Budapest Team

Table tennis career

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Rozeanu started playing table tennis while recovering from scarlet fever when she was eight. In 1933, at age 12, she won the Romanian Cup. She won the Romanian national championship in 1936 and remained Romania's female champion for the next 21 years (1936–57, excluding World War II). Her first major win was the 1938 Hungarian Open.

Her career was interrupted by World War II, as from 1940 to 1944 she was barred from even entering a gymnasium in Romania and was unable to play.

Rozeanu won her first World Championship in 1950, starting the winning run that would see her win the championship six years in succession, a feat yet to be matched.[3][4] She was also the last non-Asian woman to win the title. In total, she won 17 world titles (and 12 silver and bronze medals at the World Championships), three world women's doubles titles, and three world mixed doubles titles.[5][6] By far Romania's greatest profile in the sport, she was also the President of the Romanian Table Tennis Commission from 1950 to 1960.

Rozeanu emigrated to Israel in 1960. She won the 1961 Maccabiah Games Women's Table Tennis Championship, and was Israel's champion in 1960–62. She kept in touch with her native Romania, and visited it for the last time in 2005. In 2006, she died at the age of 84.

Recognition

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Rozeanu was given the Romanian title of Merited Master of Sport in 1954. She has also received four Order of Work honors. In 1997 she was awarded the Knesset Medal. She was awarded the title of Honorary Citizen of Haifa in 2001.

She was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1981 and into the ITTF Hall of Fame in 1995.[1]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b The ITTF Hall of Fame Archived 9 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine. ittf.com [dead link]
  2. ^ "ROZEANU-ADELSTEIN Angelica (ROU)". Ittf.com. Archived from the original on 6 July 2010. Retrieved 20 July 2011.
  3. ^ Montague, Trevor (2004). A-Z of Sport, pages 699-700. The Bath Press. ISBN 0-316-72645-1.
  4. ^ Matthews/Morrison, Peter/Ian (1987). The Guinness Encyclopaedia of Sports Records and Results, pages 309-312. Guinness Superlatives. ISBN 0-85112-492-5.
  5. ^ "Table Tennis World Championship medal winners". Sports123.
  6. ^ "Profile". Table Tennis Guide.

Sources

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