ITTF No.4 (Jan) Final (2023_01_12)

EUROPE
One Chapter
Closes, Another Opens
Ever reliable, a member of the
Spanish national team for over
two decades, the first appearance
being in 1999 at the Spanish Youth
Open in Platja d’Aro, Galia Dvorak
has announced her retirement from
international play.
However, she will not be lost to the
sport, she will continue playing at club
level, her main priority being to focus
on official roles. Appointed Chair of the
ETTU Athletes’ Commission in 2017,
currently she is Vice President of the
Royal Spanish Table Tennis Federation
and the ETTU Special Projects Manager.
“My intention is to keep playing, not
so easy because working, I do not have
much time to practise, and I don’t like
to play without practice, but it is what it
is”, said Galia Dvorak. “I guess, better
than not playing at all.”
Furthermore, recent events over
the past three years have had a
contributory effect.
“It is very difficult to combine the life
of a professional athlete with personal
life, COVID-19 has had a big impact
in my decision too”, stressed Galia
Dvorak. “The thought of finishing my
international career was in my head for
a while, it was a scary thing to do, but
after lockdown and spending a lot of
time at home, I realised that I could be
very happy without competition.”
Undoubtedly, the possibility of a
fifth consecutive Olympic Games was
very much in the mind, her first being
in 2008 in Beijing; but the demands
of international play, competing in
tournaments to maintain a high world
ranking in order to gain entry for the
quadrennial gathering, or experience the
rigours of a qualification event, are high.
Date of Birth: 1st April 1988
Full Name: Galyna Volodymyrivna Dvorak Khasanova
Date of Birth: Friday 1st April 1988
City of Birth: Kyiv, Ukraine
Present Home: Mataró, Barcelona
Family: Vladimir Dvorak and Flora Khasanova, no
siblings, engaged to Nico Canet
Languages: Catalan, Spanish, English, Russian
Racket Blade: Butterfly, Harimoto ALC FL
“I started to play in the national team
when I was very young, I have been
playing internationally for a long time, my
first senior World Championships was Paris
2003, before that I had already played in
the senior Europeans and international
youth competitions for four years”,
explained Galia Dvorak. “After all this time
it is difficult to keep up the motivation, I
knew that it was unlikely I would improve
anymore, the only realistic goal was to try
to qualify for the Olympics one more time.”
A place in Paris in 2024 was not out of
the question but realistically, taking into
account her growing interest in official
roles, the chances of qualifying were on a
knife edge. Nevertheless, the enthusiasm
for table tennis remains unwavering.
“Almost everyone that works in table
tennis does it because they are passionate
about the sport, and I am no different”,
stressed Galia Dvorak. “I think this
passion combined with my experience
as a player and some other skills and
abilities I have acquired during my
journey puts me in a great position to
dedicate my professional career to try to
make our sport bigger.”
Galia Dvorak will be missed in the
playing arena; equally she will miss
the rush of adrenalin associated with
high level competition. Always a worthy
opponent, over the years she has proved
a most popular figure at international
tournaments.
“I think what I will miss the most is
the competitive me, outside the playing
field I think I am a calm and kind
person, but competition pushes you
to your limits and that is where the
beast awakens; although sometimes
I even feel that a competitive
person is not me, I do miss her
a bit”, added Galia Dvorak. “I
think I am a very tough person
mentally; that usually brought
out the best in me at crucial
moments. Many of my
opponents used to say that
playing against me was like
a marathon because I can
return many balls on the
table and that I could
take maximum profit of
the weapons I have.”
Tokyo marked a fourth
Olympic Games appearance
Forehand Rubber: Butterfly Tenergy 05
The final appearance at a World Championships, Houston in 2021
Backhand Rubber: Butterfly Feint Long 3
A first World Championships, Paris 2003
38-ITTF Magazine ITTF Magazine- 39