Sarkis Sarchayan

Sarkis Asatovich Sarchayan (; 26 November 1947 - 21 January 2021), was a male former international table tennis player from Soviet Union. At his peak, he was ranked 7th in the World Rankings.

Career Junior career In his childhood, Sarchayan played football and he began playing table tennis at the age of 11 in Batumi. In 1965, he was a part of the Soviet team that won the team event of the European Youth Championships in Prague. In the next edition of the World Championships, Sarchayan won a silver medal in the mixed doubles event with Elmira Antonyan, losing their compatriots Stanislav Gomozkov and Zoja Rudnova in the final.

Sarchayan played his last major tournament in 1978 in Duisburg, where the European Championships were held. He finished the tournament with two bronze medals on his account, in mixed doubles and team events.

Sarchayan participated in four Europe Top 16 editions, his best being the 3rd place finish in 1976 tournament.

Accolades On the professional circuit, he won one singles and eight doubles titles in his career. Sarchayan retired as the most successful player in the Soviet Championships history with a total of 26 gold medals. Five of them, in singles event.

Death In 2021, Sarchayan died from coronavirus at the age of 77.