Dragutin Šurbek

Who is Dragutin Šurbek?

Dragutin Šurbek is a legendary former table tennis player from Croatia. He is one of the most successful Croatian table tennis players ever.

One of the most extraordinary European players ever, he won hundreds of tournaments during the peak of his table tennis career, from Tokyo and Novi Sad to Beijing and Zagreb. His partner in doubles was the almost equally powerful player Antun Stipančić-Tova. Šurbek competed with Zoran Primorac at the 1992 Summer Olympics for Croatia when he was 46 year old.

Dragutin Šurbek's biggest successes were two World Championship titles in the Men's Doubles event. He won gold medals in 1979 and in 1983. In the Men's Singles event, he won the bronze medal three times. He was the European champion in Men's Singles in 1968 and in Men's Doubles in 1970, 1982 and 1984. With the SFR Yugoslavia national team, he was European champion in 1976.

He received the Golden Badge award for the best athlete of Yugoslavia in 1983.

Šurbek is currently a table tennis coach in Zagreb.