by Simon Daish

Five weeks have passed since Bastian Steger picked up his latest injury and, with the 2016 German Championships and the 2016 World Championships not far from getting underway, the race to obtaining full fitness is top of his agenda.

Luckily for Steger, his return to the table may not be too far away and the possibility of participating in March’s German Championships in Bamberg looks like a realistic goal, “In January, is the next MRI, and then our team doctor Toni Kass will see how the inflammation has developed. Then he will decide whether I can start again or have to pause.”

Suffering from an injury can be a frustrating experience for a professional sportsman, but Steger has used his time away from Table Tennis to relax and stated that his absence from the action hasn’t been as difficult as he had originally anticipated.

“I would have imagined it worse. Actually, the break did me quite well. I was at home in Oberviechtach, on holiday in Egypt and enjoyed the sun on the Red Sea and spent more time with friends. So far I am not really bored. As unusual as it is: it is actually quite nice to have a bit more leisure than normal… A little break is nice, but now I would like to have the feeling that I am right at the table” – Bastian Steger.

Bastian Steger also spoke about how he has been training through his injury visually and the 35-year-old believes that his time watching others play will help to improve his game on the table when he returns to match fitness, “I watch them (National teammates) during training. Visual training sometimes brings something when you can not play. You can save the movements in your head when you see others play. In addition, the watching keeps the fun of table tennis upright.”