Athlete of the Week – Table Tennis Player Bernadette Szőcs
Szőcs had an impressive run at the Champions Tournament this year.
Florin Orban, 26.11.2024, 13:45
In recent decades, table tennis has been dominated by athletes from Asia. Very few players from Europe have managed to enter the rankings or win medals in world and Olympic competitions. The Champions Tournament made no exception, a competition that factors in the competitive season and brings together the best 16 singles players each year, along with the best eight teams, both men’s and women’s. This year, the competition took place in Kitakyushu, Japan. Europe was represented in the women’s competition only by the Austrian player of Moldovan origin, Sofia Polcanova, ranked 14th in the world, as well as by Bernadette Szőcs, world number 17. The Romanian representative was able to enter the competition following the withdrawal of the Chinese Meng Cheng, the reigning Olympic champion.
In the round of 16, Bernadette ousted Japan’s Hina Hayata, the fourth seed, 3-1. It took her 34 minutes to beat the world number five. She then produced another stellar performance in the quarterfinals, defeating another home team player, Satsuki Odo, the world number eight, 3-0 in just 20 minutes. The Romanian was, however, stopped on her way to the final by China’s Manyu Wang, the second seed and world number two. Bernadette was trailing 3-0 in sets, but she made a spectacular comeback, restoring the tie, 3-3, but Wang prevailed in the final set, at the end of nearly an hour of playtime. The Romanian won the bronze medal, which is why Radio Romania International has designated her Athlete of the Week.
Bernadette Szőcs was born March 5, 1995, in Târgu Mureş (central Romania). She took up sports at the age of 8. The first results in cadet and junior competitions came relatively quickly. Bernadette won several medals in European and world competitions, quickly climbing the international rankings. In 2016, at the European Championships in Budapest, she won bronze in the mixed doubles, alongside Ovidiu Ionescu. A year later, at the European championships in Luxembourg, she won her first European trophy, with the Romanian team. In 2018, in Montreux, Switzerland, she won the European Top 16 tournament, a competition addressing the best players in Europe. A year later, in Nantes, France, she became European champion again with the Romanian team. In Munich, in 2022, she won the European title in women’s doubles, together with Sofia Polcanova, and won silver in mixed doubles, together with Ovidiu Ionescu. At the Paris Olympics this year, in the singles competition, she reached the round of 16, losing to Polcanova. In the mixed doubles, she ranked 5 together with Ovidiu Ionescu. (VP)
