Misha Zilberman (Russian: Миша Зильберман; Hebrew: מישה זילברמן; born 25 January 1989) is an Israeli badminton player. He competed for Israel at the 2012, 2016, 2020 and 2024 Olympics, coming in 33rd, 14th, 15th and 27th respectively. He is the first Israeli player to win a medal at the European Badminton Championships. He won a bronze medal at the 2022 European Badminton Championships, and bronze medals at the 2019 and 2023 European Games.
Zilberman was born in Moscow, Soviet Russia. He is an only child of his father, Michael, and his mother, Svetlana Zilberman. His father was born in Russia in 1945, and immigrated to Israel in 1991, with his wife and son Misha. He worked in Pardes Hannah, and then in Rishon LeZion.
Svetlana was born in Belarus in 1958. She began playing badminton at the age of 12, which is how she met Michael, who was her coach.
Both of his parents come from athletic backgrounds. His father was a member of the Soviet national floor gymnastics team, until he retired as the result of an injury. He then became the coach to the Soviet national badminton team. Svetlana competes in professional badminton. Her greatest accomplishment was winning a bronze medal in the 1986 European Badminton Championships for the USSR. He describes his mother as "the most important person in my career, the inspiration for my whole life."
Zilberman served in the Israel Defense Forces from August 2007 to August 2010. He lives in Ness Ziona, Israel. He also studied towards a bachelor's degree in mathematics at Tel Aviv University for two years.
As to his approach to competing in badminton, Zilberman said: "I think about what the opponent playing in front of me will do against me. I must have in my performance arsenal an answer to every move of my opponent, better than what he expects."
When he was still a baby, Zilberman used to join his mother at her badminton practice, and with time he began playing himself. At the age of 12 he began his serious daily training. He began to compete in junior badminton tournaments in 2003. His club is Kfar Maccabiah. He is coached by both his parents, as his mother coaches him, and his father is head coach of Israel's national badminton team.
Zilberman won the senior Israeli Badminton Championship when he was 16 years old, in 2004. In 2006 and 2009 he played mixed doubles with his mother at the Badminton World Championships, as the Championships' first mother-son mixed doubles team.
In 2009, Zilberman first played mixed doubles with his mother, in the world championships. His mother is also his coach. He 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."
In 2011, Zilberman competed for six months for the Odense badminton club in the professional league in Denmark. In April 2012 he reached the finals of the Tahiti Air Nui International, improving his world ranking by 14 places. In 2012, he won the Israeli Badminton Championship in both singles and mixed doubles (with his mother). In May 2012 he was ranked # 64 internationally.
Zilberman competed for Israel at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, the first appearance by an Israeli badminton player in the Olympics. Ranked 33rd in the Olympic rankings in singles, he came in 33rd in the Games.
In July 2013, Zilberman won two gold medals at the 2013 Maccabiah Games, one in singles, one in mixed doubles with his mother. In May 2015, he competed in mixed doubles with his mother, who was 56 years old, at the 2015 Sudirman Cup in Dongguan, China.
2014–15; Lagos and Ethiopia titles
In May 2014, Zilberman won the 37th Israel Badminton Championship in Kibbutz Hatzur, without dropping a set. It was the sixth year in a row that he won the title. He also won the mixed doubles title, with his mother Svetlana.
In June 2014 he won the gold medal in the Lagos International in Nigeria, winning 60% of the points he played. In October 2014, Zilberman then won the Ethiopia International, winning 68% of the points he played. In December 2014, he won a bronze medal in the US Open.
In 2015, Zilberman won the gold medal in the Ethiopia International in September, without losing a game.
Zilberman represented Israel at the 2015 European Games in badminton in men's singles. He lost in the round of 16 to Zvonimir Đurkinjak of Croatia in three sets.
2016–19; 2016 Olympic Games; European Games bronze medal