Svetlana Zilberman

Svetlana Zilberman
Personal information
Birth name	Svetlana Beliasova
Country	Soviet Union Israel
Born	(1958-05-10) 10 May 1958 Belarus
Residence	Israel
Height	1.63 m (5 ft 4 in)
Handedness	Right
Mixed doubles
Highest ranking	63 (2 April 2019)
Current ranking	76 (17 June 2024)
Medal record Women's badminton Representing Soviet Union European Championships 1986 Uppsala Women's singles
BWF profile

Svetlana Zilberman (née Beliasova, born 10 May 1958) is an Israeli badminton player and coach. In 1986, she won a bronze medal at the European Badminton Championships in the women's singles event. She also serves as coach of her son Olympic badminton player Misha Zilberman (along with her husband), and as coach of Israel's national badminton team

Early life; European Championships bronze medal

She was born in Belarus. She began playing badminton at the age of 12, which is how she met her future husband Michael, who was her coach.

When she lived in the Soviet Union, she was one of the top European women's singles players. When she was 25 years old, she was for a time considered too old for the Soviet Union national badminton team. Nevertheless, at the USSR International she won the women's singles in 1979, 1982, 1983, and 1986, the women's doubles in 1983, 1985, 1987, and 1989, and the mixed doubles in 1979, 1982, 1983, and 1985. In 1981 she won the gold medals in the women's singles and women's doubles at the French Open. In 1982 she won the gold medals in the women's doubles and mixed doubles at the Czechoslovakian International. In 1986 she won the gold medals in the women's singles, women's doubles, and mixed doubles at the Hungarian International.

In 1986, she also won a bronze medal at the European Badminton Championships in the women's singles event.

Israel

Zilberman, her husband, and their son Misha Zilberman immigrated to Israel in 1991. She and her husband run two badminton clubs in Israel, and she also serves as coach of her son Misha (along with her husband), and as coach of Israel's national badminton team. Misha describes his mother as "the most important person in my career, the inspiration for my whole life." Misha is also a badminton player, and has competed at the 2012, 2016, and 2020 Summer Olympics, and is slated to compete in the 2024 Summer Olympics.

After emigrating to Israel, she won the Israeli National Badminton Championships 17 times in the women's singles and doubles event, and 21 times in the mixed doubles event, as of 2016.

She won the gold medals in the 1997 Cyprus International women's singles, mixed doubles, and women's doubles, and in the 1998 Israel Open women's singles, mixed doubles, and women's doubles. At the 2003 IBF World Senior Championships in the age 40 category, she won gold medals in the women's singles and women's doubles.

In 2009, Zilberman first played mixed doubles with her son, in the world championships; at the same time, she is his coach. Misha said that their relationship on court is "like any mixed doubles players," as they discuss how to improve and win the match, but that off the court "she is my coach, so there is no discussion."

They won the mixed doubles gold medals at the 2016 Suriname International in Paramaribo, Suriname, at the 2017 Lagos International in Lagos, Nigeria, and at the 2018 Ethiopia International in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. At the 2019 BWF World Senior Championships in the age 60 category, she won gold medals in the women's singles and women's doubles, and at the 2021 BWF World Senior Championships in the age 60 category, she won the women's singles.

At the BWF World Championships 2022 in August, at the age of 64 years old Zilberman became the oldest player to win a match in competition history. She and her 33-year-old son Misha defeated Egyptian Olympians Adham Hatem Elgamal/Doha Hany. The next-youngest badminton player on the list was 38 years old.

Achievements

European Championships

Women's singles

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result
1986	Fyrishallen, Uppsala, Sweden	Helen Troke	3–11, 7–11	Bronze

BWF International (3 titles, 1 runner-up)

Mixed doubles

Year	Tournament	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
2016	Suriname International	Misha Zilberman	Alistair Espinoza Solangel Guzman	21–14, 21–15	Winner
2017	Lagos International	Misha Zilberman	Duarte Nuno Anjo Sofia Setim	20–22, 21–16, 21–7	Winner
2017	Ethiopia International	Misha Zilberman	Sifeddine Larbaoui Linda Mazri	Walkover	Winner
2017	Zambia International	Misha Zilberman	Jonathan Persson Kate Foo Kune	Walkover	Runner-up

  BWF International Challenge tournament

  BWF International Series tournament

  BWF Future Series tournament

IBF International

Women's singles

Year	Tournament	Opponent	Score	Result
1979	USSR International	Sirisriro Patama		Winner
1981	French Open	Gillian Clark		Winner
1981	USSR International	Christine Magnusson	11–7, 7–11, 6–11	Runner-up
1982	USSR International	Tatyana Litvinenko	11–5, 12–10	Winner
1983	USSR International	Tatyana Litvinenko	11–4, 7–11, 11–7	Winner
1984	USSR International	Tatyana Litvinenko	4–11, 11–2, 5–11	Runner-up
1985	USSR International	Tatyana Litvinenko	3–11, 9–12	Runner-up
1985	Mozambique International	Elena Rybkina	12–9, 11–8	Winner
1986	USSR International	Madhumita Bisht	2–10, 8–11, 11–3	Winner
1986	Hungarian International	Vlada Belyutina	11–0, 10–12, 11–2	Winner
1989	Norwegian International	Camilla Martin	2–11, 3–11	Runner-up
1997	Cyprus International	Diana Knekna	11–1, 11–3	Winner
1998	Israel International	Diana Knekna	11–0, 11–1	Winner
1998	Amor International	Judith Meulendijks	4–11, 0–11	Runner-up
2000	Cyprus International	Margarita Mladenova	8–11, 8–11	Runner-up

Women's doubles

Year	Tournament	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
1981	French Open	Vard Poghosyan			Winner
1982	Czechoslovakian International	Petra Michalowsky	Monika Cassens Angela Michalowski	15–11, 16–17, 15–11	Winner
1982	USSR International	Ludmila Suslo	Wendy Massam Gillian Gowers	11–15, 11–15	Runner-up
1983	USSR International	Lyudmila Okuneva	Monika Cassens Petra Michalowsky	15–9, 15–5	Winner
1985	USSR International	Elena Rybkina	Tatyana Litvinenko Viktoria Pron	15–8, 9–15, 15–5	Winner
1985	Mozambique International	Elena Rybkina	Bridget Ibenero Vlada Belyutina	15–0, 15–7	Winner
1986	USSR International	Irina Serova	Tatyana Litvinenko Viktoria Pron	5–15, 18–13, 12–15	Runner-up
1986	Hungarian International	Vlada Belyutina	Monika Cassens Petra Michalowsky	15–12, 15–7	Winner
1987	USSR International	Elena Rybkina	Charlotte Madsen Lisbet Stuer-Lauridsen	15–2, 17–14	Winner
1989	Norwegian International	Irina Serova	Camilla Martin Lotte Olsen	10–15, 10–15	Runner-up
1989	USSR International	Irina Serova	Margit Borg Astrid Crabo	17–14, 15–5	Winner
1997	Cyprus International	Shirley Daniel	Elena Iasonos Diana Knekna	16–17, 15–4, 15–3	Winner
1998	Israel International	Diana Koleva	Elena Iasonos Diana Knekna	15–1, 15–2	Winner

Mixed doubles

Year	Tournament	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
1979	USSR International	Anatoliy Skripko	Viktor Shvachko Nadezhda Litvincheva		Winner
1982	Czechoslovakian International	Anatoliy Skripko	Edgar Michalowski Monika Cassens	15–7, 15–11	Winner
1982	USSR International	Vitaliy Shmakov	Edgar Michalowski Monika Cassens	15–10, 15–11	Winner
1983	USSR International	Vitaliy Shmakov	Edgar Michalowski Monika Cassens	15–8, 15–10	Winner
1985	Mozambique International	Anatoliy Skripko	Clement Ogbo Dayo Oyewusi	15–1, 15–4	Winner
1985	USSR International	Sergey Sevryukov	Stefan Frey Mechtild Hagemann	15–2, 15–12	Winner
1986	Hungarian International	Vitaliy Shmakov	Thomas Mundt Monika Cassens	15–10, 15–10	Winner
1997	Cyprus International	Leon Pougatch	Peter Jensen Karin Knudsen	3–15, 15–2, 15–13	Winner
1998	Israel International	Leon Pougatch	Nir Yusim Diana Knekna	15–4, 15–5	Winner
2000	Cyprus International	Leon Pougatch	Konstantin Dobrev Dobrinka Smilanova	15–4, 15–5	Winner

External links

• Svetlana Zilberman at BWF.TournamentSoftware.com
• "Badminton Unlimited | Zilbermans: The Unconventional Mother-Son Combo," BWF 2022 (video).