Ilija Lupulesku

Ilija Lupulesku is a former SerbianYugoslav and later American table tennis player who competed in the 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000 and in the 2004 Summer Olympics. He became a naturalized American citizen in 2002 and competed for the USA from 2004 to 2006 including 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, he picked up a paddle and began what would become his lifes ambition. Despite his love and talent for soccer, Lupulesku, under the watchful eye of first coach Jon Bosika, committed himself to training and by agewas the top player on the Yugoslavian Junior National Table Tennis Team. Over the nextyears, he would rise through the ranks of the worlds best players and become one of the largest sport celebrities in his native Yugoslavia.

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Source: Wikipedia