Svetlana Zilberman סבטלנה זילברמן
Personal information
Birth name	Svetlana Beliasova
Country	Israel
Born	(1958-05-10)10 May 1958 (age 67) Belarus
Residence	Israel
Height	1.63 m (5 ft 4 in)
Handedness	Right
Mixed doubles
Highest ranking	63 (2 April 2019)
Current ranking	108 (January 16, 2025)
Medal record Women'sbadminton Representing Soviet Union European Championships 1986 Uppsala Women's singles
BWF profile

Svetlana Zilberman (Hebrew:סבטלנה זילברמן; néeBeliasova, born 10 May 1958) is an Israelibadminton player and coach that formerly represented the Soviet Union, then Israel.^[1] She is currently the oldest badminton player that is still active. In 1986, she won abronze medal at theEuropean Badminton Championships in the women's singles event. She also serves as coach of her son Olympic badminton playerMisha Zilberman (along with her husband), and as coach of Israel's national badminton team

She was born inBelarus. She began playing badminton at the age of 12, which is how she met her future husband Michael, who was her coach.^[2][3][4]

When she lived in the Soviet Union, she was one of the top European women's singles players.^[5] When she was 25 years old, she was for a time considered too old for theSoviet Union national badminton team.^[6] Nevertheless, at theUSSR 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 theFrench Open. In 1982 she won the gold medals in the women's doubles and mixed doubles at theCzechoslovakian International. In 1986 she won the gold medals in the women's singles, women's doubles, and mixed doubles at theHungarian International.

In 1986, she also won a bronze medal at theEuropean Badminton Championships in the women's singles event.^[7]

Zilberman, her husband, and their sonMisha Zilbermanimmigrated toIsrael in 1991.^[2] 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.^[5] Misha describes his mother as "the most important person in my career, the inspiration for my whole life."^[5] Misha is also a badminton player, and has competed at the2012,2016, and2020 Summer Olympics, and has also competed in the2024 Summer Olympics.^[8][9]

After emigrating to Israel, she won theIsraeli National Badminton Championships 17 times in the women's singles and doubles event, and 21 times in the mixed doubles event, as of 2016.^[10]

She won the gold medals in the 1997Cyprus International women's singles, mixed doubles, and women's doubles, and in the 1998Israel Open women's singles, mixed doubles, and women's doubles. At the2003 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.^[6] 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."^[6]

They won the mixed doubles gold medals at the 2016Suriname International inParamaribo,Suriname, at the 2017Lagos International inLagos,Nigeria, and at the 2018Ethiopia International inAddis Ababa,Ethiopia. At the2019 BWF World Senior Championships in the age 60+ category, she won gold medals in the women's singles and women's doubles, and at the2021 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.^[11] She and her 33-year-old son Misha defeated Egyptian OlympiansAdham Hatem Elgamal/Doha Hany.^[11][12] The next-youngest badminton player on the list was 38 years old.^[5]

Women's singles

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

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

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

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

• 1958 births
• Living people
• Belarusian female badminton players
• Soviet female badminton players
• Israeli female badminton players
• Badminton players at the 2019 European Games
• Badminton players at the 2023 European Games
• European Games competitors for Israel

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Articles containing Hebrew-language text