All England Open Championships: 62-year-old Svetlana Zilberman and son Misha Zilberman go down fighting

All England Open Championships: 62-year-old Svetlana Zilberman and son Misha Zilberman go down fighting

Svetlana Zilberman and Misha Zilberman

In what is truly a remarkable feat, 62-year-old Svetlana Zilberman took a game along with her son 32-year-old Misha Zilberman in the All England Open Championships against German pair Patrick Scheiel and Franziska Volkmann. The mother-son duo went down fighting in a thrilling encounter that ended 21-15, 21-23, 21-14 in favor of the Germans. Despite the final result, the match will be remembered for the second game.

Representing Israel at present, Svetlana was a national player for the Soviet Union in the 1980s when she won a bronze medal at the 1986 European Championships. She then began training her son Misha ever since his childhood and began enrolling him in tournaments around Israel. Misha then went on to himself become a national champion like his mother. Due to a lack of partners to play doubles with, he decided to play with his mother.

Svetlana Zilberman’s show of grit

All England Open
Action from the match

Coming into the Round of 32 match against their German opponents, the Israeli mother-son duo weren’t expected to win even 20 points in total let alone an entire game. But both Svetlana Zilberman and Misha Zilberman showed stupendous grit and determination to keep chipping away with points and ensure a close first game. It was then that they did the unthinkable by taking the second in thrilling circumstances.

FS Video

Although they went down fighting in the third game, their show of resolve and the second game was what mattered for the duo that is going from strength to strength. At 62 years old, Svetlana is showing no signs of stopping as she continues to play the game she loves along with her son.

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