by Simon Daish
Defying the odds to win Women’s Team gold at the 2017 European Championships, Romania has grown into a leading nation at continental level and the country’s representatives will prove tough to beat at the 2019 World Championships.
Europe’s highest ranked player in the Women’s World Rankings, Bernadette Szocs has injected a new sense of excitement into the European game over the past year or so following her outstanding gold medal finish at the 2018 Europe Top 16 Cup competition. Fast on her feet and possessing a warrior-like persona on the table, Szocs occupies the no.14 spot in the seeding list.
Seeded three positions lower is 2015 European singles champion and three-time Olympian Elizabeta Samara. Celebrating her 30th birthday on Monday 15th April, Samara has enjoyed many a great battle against some of the biggest names associated with the sport and will provide a stern test to whomever she draws in Budapest.
Three further Romanians will compete in the Women’s Singles draw: Daniela Monteiro Dodean, Irina Ciobanu and Adina Diaconu.
When you cast your eye back over the history of the World Championships there is one name that stands out above the rest for Romania and that is Angelica Rozeanu’s.
Crowned Women’s Singles champion the last time the World Championships were staged in Budapest in 1950, Angelica Rozeanu won the gold medal on six consecutive occasions and rightfully took her place in the ITTF Hall of Fame in 1995.
With the World Championships returning to the Hungarian capital for the first time in 69 years, will we see another Romanian rise to the challenge?
Watch Romania’s star players in action at the Liebherr 2019 ITTF World Table Tennis Championships by purchasing your tickets below:
