Athlete of the Week – Table tennis player Bernadette Szőcs

Romanian table tennis continues to confirm its value at the World Team Championships in London.

Florin Orban, 05.05.2026, 13:45

Romania’s table tennis teams qualified on Monday to the round of sixteen at the World Championships in London. It is essentially a repeat of the performances achieved two years ago at the World Team Championships hosted by South Korea, showing that Romanian table tennis maintains its high level.

Last week in London, the men’s team (Ovidiu Ionescu, Iulian Chiriță and Eduard Ionescu) won Preliminary Group 9, which also included Argentina, Peru and Benin. On Monday, the tricolors advanced to the round of sixteen after a 3–2 victory over Poland.

For the women’s team, the path was more difficult. Made up of Bernadette Szőcs, Elizabeta Samara and Andreea Dragoman, the Romanian side finished second in Group 1, after losing to China, the reigning world and Olympic champion, but defeating the strong teams of South Korea and Taiwan. The victories against the Asian sides (both quarter‑finalists at the World Championships two years ago) were spectacular. Against South Korea, Romania won 3–2, with two victories from Bernadette Szőcs and one from Eliza Samara. In the match against Taiwan, all three Romanian players contributed points, just as they did in the round‑of‑32 match against the Netherlands.

In the encounter with the Dutch team, the opening match proved decisive: Szőcs won 3–2 after trailing 0–2 in sets. Following all these performances, Radio Romania International has designated Bernadette Szőcs Athlete of the Week.

Bernadette Szőcs was born on March 5, 1995 in Târgu Mureș, central Romania. She started playing table tennis at the age of eight, and results in cadet and junior competitions came relatively quickly. She won multiple medals at European and world events, climbing rapidly in international rankings.

In 2016, at the European Championships in Budapest, she won bronze in mixed doubles alongside Ovidiu Ionescu. A year later, at the continental championships in Luxembourg, she claimed her first European title with the Romanian team. In 2018, in Montreux, Switzerland, she won the European Top 16 tournament, reserved for the best players on the continent. One year later, in Nantes, France, she again became European champion with the Romanian team.

At the 2022 European Championships in Munich, she won the women’s doubles title together with Austrian player of Moldovan origin Sofia Polcanova, and took silver in mixed doubles with Ovidiu Ionescu. At the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, she reached the round of sixteen in singles, where she was stopped once again by Polcanova. In mixed doubles, together with Ovidiu Ionescu, she finished in fifth place. Last year, at the World Championships in Doha, Qatar, Szőcs and Polcanova won silver in women’s doubles. (VP)