Andrii Sliusar, a table tennis player from Zaporizhzhia, died defending Ukraine from Russian invaders.
He was born on February 4, 1994. When he was 12, he joined a table tennis section. It seemed that he came too late to take up the sport seriously, because children usually start at the age of 5-6. However, the young man’s outstanding talent and hard work opened prospects in sport for him. He trained at the Children’s and Youth Sports School № 4 and also played at the “Khortytsia” club under the guidance of Viktor Vakhrushev. A few years after he started training, at the age of 15, he received the title of candidate for master of sports. Andrii took an active part in competitions: he won youth tournaments, the city championship, the Yakutovych tournament, and played in the Zaporizhzhia Super League. Until 2019, he was in the UTTF ranking.
The coach recalls that Andrii`s attitude to surrounding people was always open-hearted, friendly and he loved children. While studying in high school, he started teaching. He trained young children who came to table tennis lessons.
At the age of 19, Andrii got married and had a son. He had so much more to teach him, to show him, to live together with his little happiness, but a full-scale war broke out and changed everything, forcing parents to defend the country so that their children could live in a free Ukraine under its peaceful sky.
On March 20, 2022, Andrii joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He served in the air defense forces. In May of that year, his coach Victor met him for the last time. He recalls that despite everything, the defender remained optimistic, cheerful, believed in the future and that everything would be fine. But in less than 3 months, the sad news came from the front line – 28-year-old Andriy Slyusar was killed…
At home, the Hero’s beloved wife and 9-year-old son were waiting for him…