As Halloween approaches, people do their best to scare each other with far-fetched tales of the supernatural, macabre and otherworldly. On the other hand, things are unfolding more or less as expected at the 7th CISM Military World Games in Wuhan, China. Hosts China won the men's team competition, with Fan Zhendong winning both of his matches against North Korea to carry his team to victory. It is hardly surprising when China wins an international table tennis competition. One of their early opponents, however, did turn some heads. In the group stage, China faced off against Greece. There, they encountered a familiar opponent, one whose career began before most of the players in the tournament were born. At 47, Kalinikos Kreangka is still a force to be reckoned with. Although his world ranking has slipped from #7 to #799 in the last 15 years, he is staying sharp in the French league. There, Kreangka hones his signature backhand, a truly frightening force of nature that somehow combines the racecar-in-the-red topspin of a Jörg Rosskopf bachand loop with the vulgar display of power that is a Jörgen Persson backhand smash. Although his Greek team would ultimately be swept 3-0, Kreangka managed to get a game off of China's Zhou Kai, 23. Against South Korea, he replicated the feat, winning a game against 20-year-old Ham Yu-song. These encouraging results come despite losing valuable training time to an elbow injury. "I'm still playing at a good level in the French league," said Kreangka. "I was injured with my elbow for a month and have started playing regularly only recently, but I know I have to protect myself a little more." With the singles competition up next, Kreangka hopes to put on a good show for the table tennis-obsessed Chinese fans. "People love table tennis here, so it feels very good to come here and play in front of the Chinese people who appreciate the sport so much," said the Greek legend, who won bronze in singles at the 2003 World Championships and twice made the World Cup finals. While his days of contending for world titles are behind him, Kreangka sees a bright future for Greece, the homeland he adopted at 17 after defecting from his native Romania. "It is very popular," Kreanga said of table tennis in modern Greece. " We have had a very good national team for many years now, and many young boys and girls play in leagues outside of Greece. I think we have a good level of quality in the sport. The younger players play in the French league, and are getting better and better each year." Now, a new generation of players is learning that Kalinikos Kreangka's backhand is not just a scary story to tell kids around a campfire. It is very real, and deadly as ever. Sleep tight, kids.

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