Irena Bosa-Mikocziova passed away on Sunday 18th September, she was 77 years old.
Born on Friday 19th January 1945 in Vinohrady nad Vahom, Galanta District, located in south-west Slovakia, she was 77 years old.
Irena started to play table tennis when 10 years old at Dynamo Spoj Bratislava; in 1961 when 16 years of age she moved to Lokomotiva Raca, later known as Lokomotiva Bratislava. She played in the top national league, becoming an established member of the Czechoslovakian national team.
At the 1961 European Youth Championships in Bad Blankenburg, at the time only junior events staged, partnering Marta Luzova she won girls’ team bronze, before partnering Vilim Polakovic to mixed doubles gold. One year later in Bled, once again alongside Marta Luzova, she secured girls’ team bronze, girls’ doubles gold; in addition, she won the mixed doubles title alongside Rotislav Stepanek.
Later she competed in two World Championships and three European Championships. Primarily alongside Marta Luzova and Jitka Karlikova, at European Championships commencing in 1964 in Malmö, she won women’s team bronze on three consecutive occasions; also, in 1996 she joined forces with Marta Luzova to claim women’s doubles silver.
Earlier in 1959 at the World Youth Festival she won the girls’ singles title, she was five times the Czechoslovakian women’s singles champion as well as alongside Alica Grofova – Chladekova, representing Lokomotiva Raca, the winner of the 1967 ETTU Fairs Cup.
In 1968, after the birth of her second child, she left the national team but continued to play table tennis; for one year she represented DAC Dunajska Streda, guiding the team to the first national league, proving an invaluable source of experience for younger players. Later, she competed in veteran events, notably in the 2005 World Veteran Championships in Lucerne.
Sadly, in 2007, she suffered a severe stroke and became paralyzed; she was never able to move on her own again, her daughter looked after her for two years before in 2009 she entered a nursing home which could provide 24 hour care.
She leaves two children, three grandchildren and one great-grandchild.