Held in Bucharest Romania the National Table Tennis Championships for seniors concluded in the singles events with victories for the favorites: Bernadette SZOCS and Ovidiu IONESCU. While Bernie clinched her sixth consecutive individual title for Ovidiu the gold won on Friday marked his ninth career National title.
Ranked 9th in the World and a participant in all major tournaments worldwide Bernadette SZOCS joyfully attends the National Championship competitions each time.
“It’s a pleasure to come here and I’m proud to represent CSA Steaua. It’s very nice to play at home in your country because many have come to support me. It’s a special feeling every time ” said Bernadette SZOCS.
She harbors a hidden ambition: to set a new record for consecutive individual titles. So far she has reached 6.
“Since I started this National Championship I’ve aimed to win the singles event because I want to set a record by winning it multiple times in a row. I’ve won 6 times in a row now and I want to keep winning for as many years as possible.”
For SZOCS her results in recent years and especially her 9th place in the world rankings have enabled her to compete on par with players from Asia.
“I’m no longer afraid because I’ve proven several times that I’m close to them especially since I’ve beaten them especially the two-time Olympic champion in a row. So I’m very positive every time I’m at the table with them; I give it my all and I love that feeling when I sense that they are afraid of me too.”
Ovidiu Ionescu was once again in form and secured his ninth individual career title.
“It’s a great joy to defend my title won here last year and to win my ninth individual title. The level at this National Championship was very high. I’m very happy that I managed to win again. It was a very nice atmosphere ” said IONESCU.
Ovidiu first participated in the Senior Nationals in 2008 when he was 18 years old. Since then he has collected numerous medals in all events.
“I first participated in 2008 so 16 years ago. At 18 I made my debut in the national senior team. It’s the ninth title individually I might have around 30 medals but I’m not sure exactly I admit.” For Ovidiu who resides in Germany the National Championships are also an ideal opportunity to come to his home country and spend some time with his parents.
“I come to the country 3-4 times when we have training camps maybe I come to the country 4-5 times a year. This time the Nationals lasted 5 days so it was an even better moment for my parents and me to spend time together.”
Brothers Iulian and Cristian CHIRIȚĂ defended their doubles title won last year.
The two brothers have been playing together since last year and have ended up playing more often as a pair. They say there’s no boss in their team even though there’s a six-year age difference between them.
“Last year when we both decided to play at the National Championship we played two matches in training and we lost twice with 3-0. But we said let’s see what happens at the National Championship and we played very well. We have two consecutive titles and I hope we win another one next year ” said Iulian CHIRIȚĂ.
Women Singles
- Bernadette SZOCS (CSA Steaua București)
- Irina CIOBANU (CS Rapid București)
- Adina diaconu (CS Rapid București)
- Ioana Sîngeorzan (CS Gloria 2018 Bistrița-Năsăud)
Men’s Singles
- Ovidiu IONESCU (SCM Gloria Buzău)
- Darius MOVILEANU (CSA Steaua București)
- Eduard IONESCU (CSA Steaua București)
- Andrei ISTRATE (CSA Steaua București)
Men’s Doubles
- Cristian CHIRIȚĂ (CSM Constanța)/ Iulian CHIRIȚĂ (CS Rapid București)
- Ovidiu IONESCU (SCM Gloria Buzău)/ Alin SPELBUȘ (CS Rapid București)
- Darius TOMA (CSM Gloria 2018 Bistrița-Năsăud)/ Dragoș BUJOR (CSA Steaua București)
- Alexandru MANOLE/ Florin SPELBUȘ (CS Rapid București)
Women’s Doubles
- Irina CIOBANU/Adina DIACONU (CS Rapid București)
- Bernadette SZOCS/Elizabeta SAMARA (CSA Steaua București)
- Elena ZAHARIA (CSM Constanța)/Andreea DRAGOMAN (CSA Steaua București)
- Bianca Mei-ROȘU/Andrea TEGLAS (LPS NR Constanța)
Mixed Doubles
- Andrei ISTRATE/Andreea DRAGOMAN (CSA Steaua București)
- Eduard IONESCU/Elizabeta SAMARA (CSA Steaua București)
- Alin SPELBUȘ/Irina CIOBANU (CS Rapid București)
- Darius TOMA/Tania PLAIAN (CSM Gloria 2018 Bistrița-Năsăud)
