Zoran Kosanović ( sr-cyr, Зоран Косановић; January 16, 1956 – February 4, 1998) was a

Serbian Canadian The community of Serbian Canadians ( sr, Канадски Срби/Kanadski Srbi) includes Canadian citizens of Serb ethnicity, or people born in Serbia who permanently reside in Canada. Serbs (and Serbians) have migrated to Canada in various wa ...

table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

player.

Career

Career in Yugoslavia

Kosanović represented

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

in all five world championships from 1973 to 1981 (in 1975, he won silver medal at the

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

). In 1976, he was European Champion in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

. With his doubles partner

Milivoj Karakašević Milivoj Karakašević (30 July 1948 – 26 March 2022) was a Serbian international table tennis player who competed for Yugoslavia in the 1970s and 1980s. Table tennis career With the Yugoslav men's team, he won gold at the 1976 European Champ ...

, he reached the European Championship semifinal in 1978. In the Balkan Championships, he won 11 titles. From 1975 to 1979, he was the Yugoslav champion five times. His highest ranking in the ITTF World Ranking was 7th place.

Career in Canada

In September 1979, Kosanović moved to

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

. In 1981, he won the North American Championship and in 1982 the US Open. At the 1983 World Championship in Tokyo, he represented Canada.

Death and legacy

On February 4, 1998, Kosanović collapsed while taking part in a recreational soccer match at The Hangar sports complex and died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

. He is interred in Toronto's York Cemetery. In March 1998, an annual soccer tournament held in

Downsview Park Downsview Park is a large urban park located in the Downsview neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The park's name is officially bilingual due to it being federally owned and managed, and was first home to de Havilland Canada, an aircra ...

was initiated by the

Serbian White Eagles FC Serbian White Eagles Football Club ( sr, Фудбалски клуб Српски бели орлови / ''Fudbalski klub Srpski beli orlovi'') is a Canadian soccer team. The team is a member of the Canadian Soccer League, an unsanctioned socce ...

. Večernje novosti (March 4, 1998). "Memorijal Zorana Kosanovića, pg. 15" (in Serbian).

Personal

Kosanović married Darinka "Doreen" (née Jovanov) in 1979 and had two children: a son Sasha and daughter Tanya.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kosanovic, Zoran 1956 births 1998 deaths Sportspeople from Belgrade Sportspeople from Toronto Serbian male table tennis players Canadian male table tennis players Yugoslav table tennis players Canadian people of Serbian descent Sport deaths in Canada Mediterranean Games medalists in table tennis Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Yugoslavia Mediterranean Games bronze medalists for Yugoslavia Competitors at the 1979 Mediterranean Games Yugoslav emigrants to Canada Burials at York Cemetery, Toronto