Aleksandr KHANIN is in Minsk where he waits for the end of restrictions and start of the tournaments.
“I feel good thanks. We do not have quarantine in Belarus we practice almost in the usual mode. I pay more attention now to physical training. I reschedule a bit the training sessions. The time between two training was reduced so we do not need go home between trainings.
KHANIN started to play at age of six in Minsk.
“My parents had doubts should it be tennis or table tennis. But in the end one grandmother’s friend who used to play too advised them to choose table tennis. I realized that I would stay in this sport for a long time when I began to have success and began to win medals. I am also very grateful to the first coach Alexandra SIPACH who instilled in me from an early age a love of sport. There were times when I wanted to quit all and finish with sports. However this feeling disappeared very quickly and I again went to the hall.”
He remembered his first medal.
“I won the very first medal in Minsk I think I was 7 years old at the City Championship for the kids. Honestly I don’t remember what kind of competition it was but I remember well that the boys and girls participated together.”
The medal count continued at the Continental gatherings as well.
“One of my most memorable moments are connected with the European Championships. I won two medals at the European Youth Championship; gold in doubles event with Tomas POLANSKY of Czech Republic and bronze in singles. In addition I clinched the bronze in the team’s event at the European Championship 2015 in Yekaterinburg where I did not play in the group nor in the quarter-finals but in the semi-finals I was in the game and managed to beat Daniel HABESON who in that time he was no. 60 in the World rankings.
Aleksandr KHANIN reached the Round of 32 at the European Championships 2016 in Budapest at age of 18.
“On my way to the best 32 I beat several players from the Top 100” reflected KHANIN.”And from the most recent memories it is the Austrian Open 2019 where I was in Round of 32 before I lost to Timo BOLL.”
Speaking about the players he admires the most KHANIN mentioned two names.
“Vladimir SAMSONOV and ZHANG Jike. Vladimir has been an idol for me since I was a child and I am very happy that I can still play with him in the same team. And about ZHANG Jike: I just love the way he played. He is still my favorite player of all time.”
Not all memories are that nice. There were sad moments as well.
“This is probably a match with Darko JORGIC in 2016. It was the quarter-final of the Youth European Championship in Zagreb. It was 9-7 for me in the seventh game but eventually I lost that game.”
What makes you happy?
“The greatest happiness is that I do my favorite thing and that my beloved family always supports me.”
What is your favorite city?
“Shanghai. I really like skyscrapers and in Shanghai there are really a lot of them.”
What legacy do you want to leave behind?
“I would really like table tennis to be much more popular in the World. In particular in my country. In Belarus many people don’t even know about this sport although we have a living legend – Vladimir SAMSONOV.”
What is next?
“My first goal is to get to the Olympic Games in Tokyo. I really hope that the pandemic will end as soon as possible and I will start competing again.”
