Galia Dvorak

Galia Dvorak
Dvorak in 2016
Personal information
Full nameGalyna Volodymyrivna
Dvorak Khasanova
Nationality Spain
ResidenceBarcelona, Spain
Born (1988-04-01) 1 April 1988 (age 36)
Kyiv, Ukrainian SSR,
Soviet Union
Height1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Weight58 kg (128 lb)
Table tennis career
Playing styleRight-handed, classic[1]
Highest ranking72 (February 2010)[2]
Current ranking94 (May 2019)[2]
ClubCN Mataró[1]
Medal record
Women's table tennis
Representing  Spain
European Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2013 Schwechat Doubles
Mediterranean Games
Gold medal – first place 2018 Tarragona Team
Bronze medal – third place 2009 Pescara Team
Bronze medal – third place 2018 Tarragona Individual

Galyna Volodymyrivna "Galia" Dvorak Khasanova (Ukrainian: Галина Володимирівна Дворжака Хасанова; born 1 April 1988) is a Spanish table tennis player.[3][4] She was born in Kyiv, but her family moved to Spain when she was two.[5] Both of her parents (Vladimir Dvorak and Flora Khasanova) were also international table tennis players.[5] She won a bronze medal in the women's team event at the 2009 Mediterranean Games in Pescara, Italy.[6] As of May 2019, Dvorak is ranked no. 94 in the world by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF).[2] Dvorak is a member of the table tennis team for CN Mataró, and is coached and trained by Peter Engel, Linus Mernsten, and her mother Flora Khasanova.[1][3] She is also right-handed, and uses the classic grip.[1][3]

Dvorak made her official debut, as a 20-year-old, at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, where she competed only in the inaugural women's team event. Playing with Chinese emigrants Shen Yanfei and Zhu Fang, Dvorak placed third in the preliminary pool round, with a total of four points, two defeats from Japan and South Korea, and a single victory over the Australian trio Miao Miao, Jian Fang Lay, and Stephanie Sang Xu.[7][8][9]

Four years after competing in her first Olympics, Dvorak qualified for her second Spanish team, as a 24-year-old, at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, by receiving an allocation spot from the Final World Qualifying Tournament in Doha, Qatar.[10][11][12] With a maximum of two quotas per nation in the singles tournament, Dvorak accepted the third spot, and thereby competed only in the women's team event, along with her fellow players Sara Ramírez and Shen Yanfei. Dvorak and her team lost the first round match to the formidable Chinese trio Li Xiaoxia, Guo Yue, and Ding Ning, with a unanimous set score of 0–3 (4–11, 7–11, 12–14).[13]

At the 2016 Summer Olympics, she competed in the women's singles only. She was a replacement for the injured French player Carole Grundisch.[5] She lost to home player Lin Gui in her first match.

References

  1. ^ a b c d "ITTF World Player Profile – Galia Dvorak". ITTF. Archived from the original on 29 December 2013. Retrieved 26 February 2013.
  2. ^ a b c "ITTF World Ranking – Galia Dvorak". ITTF. Archived from the original on 29 December 2013. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
  3. ^ a b c "Galia Dvorak". London2012.com. London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 25 May 2013. Retrieved 26 February 2013.
  4. ^ "Galia Dvorak". 26 February 2013. Archived from the original on 6 February 2013. Retrieved 26 February 2013.
  5. ^ a b c Marshall, Ian (29 July 2016). "Galia Dvorak to Compete in Rio, Replaces Injured Carole Grundisch". ITTF.com. Archived from the original on 17 August 2016. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  6. ^ "Sara Ramírez dóna el bronze a la selecció espanyola" [Sara Ramírez takes bronze for the Spanish team] (in Catalan). Esport Català. 1 July 2009. Archived from the original on 28 December 2013. Retrieved 26 February 2013.
  7. ^ "Women's Team Group D (KOR–ESP)". NBC Olympics. Archived from the original on 21 August 2012. Retrieved 26 February 2013.
  8. ^ "Women's Team Group D (JPN–ESP)". NBC Olympics. Archived from the original on 21 August 2012. Retrieved 26 February 2013.
  9. ^ "Women's Team Group D (ESP–AUS)". NBC Olympics. Archived from the original on 21 August 2012. Retrieved 26 February 2013.
  10. ^ "Players Qualified for the 2012 London Olympic Games – Women" (PDF). ITTF. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 26 February 2013.
  11. ^ "Galia Dvorak and Sara Ramirez Spark Spanish Celebrations in Doha". ITTF. 12 May 2012. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 26 February 2013.
  12. ^ "Olympic table tennis field nearly complete". NBC Olympics. 14 May 2012. Archived from the original on 11 April 2013. Retrieved 26 February 2013.
  13. ^ "Women's Team First Round". London2012.com. London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 2 April 2013. Retrieved 26 February 2013.