The Transylvanian Hungarian girl who could defeat the Chinese
Bernadette is a talented table tennis player who could finally have a chance at leaving her Asian opponents behind, who have been undefeated in the sport for quite some time. She is also participating in the 2019 World Table Tennis Championships which is happening in Budapest this week.
Who is Bernadette Szőcs?
Bernadette is a Transylvanian Hungarian girl who also happens to be an amazing table tennis player. Her talent showed early, at the age of 11 when she entered the European Championships for adolescents.
- In July 2012, she was ranked 5th in the ITTF World Junior Circuit.
- In 2019, she was ranked number 21 in the world in the International Table Tennis Federation Rankings.
- She is currently No. 17 in the world ranking, making her the best in Europe, with the first 16 players all coming from Asia.
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Her older brother, Hunor, started playing table tennis first in the family six years ago. Index writes that Hunor is in the top 100 players in the world (82nd at the moment). Bernadette got interested in table tennis thanks to her brother. This common passion brought them closer to each other, and they are still living and training together today. Their parents supported them both emotionally and financially throughout the years so that they can become the best sportsman and sportswoman they can be.
“Aggression and stubbornness are characteristic of me but only when I am playing. I like to speed up to gain points.”
Her group, Romania, finished first at last year’s European Championships.
“It was an amazing experience to win the gold. It is always special in teams, because I play not only for myself but for the others, too.”
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She aims to be the best, but in order to achieve that, she needs to be better than the 16 Asian players currently in front of her in the ranking. She thinks it is not an easy task to do. However, many believe that she is one of the few who could have a chance at defeating the Asians in this particular sport. She is also optimistic:
“I believe that you do not need to be born in Asia in order to be the best.”
She was very much looking forward to the Liebherr 2019 World Table Tennis Championships which is held in Hungexpo, Budapest, on 21-28 April (tickets available here). She thinks that she usually plays well in Budapest. Even her parents are coming from Transylvania to watch her play.
Featured image: Instagram.com/szocsbernadettecynthia/
Source: www.index.hu; Wikipedia