Two Swiss table tennis players and a Spanish player board a plane every time they play a WELYNQ/TTV Maashorst competition match in Uden. With these internationals, the table tennis club missed out on the Dutch championship title for the second time in a row on Thursday.
Table tennis players train and play matches in the gymnasium of the Learn to Play Center in Uden. Not a great environment for table tennis, but still the top sport in the federation that has been around for fifty years this year.
In 2019, coach Han Götzen (64) of Oden took the lead to storm the Dutch top. The team had to start in the second division. He took the address there right away. Last season and this year they lost the national championship final.
“With us, talents get a chance to take a good step in their career.”
To compete for the title, according to Götzen, it is necessary to look beyond national boundaries. “We prefer to work with Dutch talents. There, but they often choose a big country for table tennis like Germany.”
According to him, it is not easy to secure international talents and it also costs a lot of air tickets. “Nowadays, you can also create a good team with less budget. With us, talented people get a chance to make a good step in their career.”
Thus, three foreign players arrived. Swiss Mauro Schärer and Elias Hardmeyer play together in their respective leagues. Spaniard Juan Pedro Sanchez Terrones also gets on board for every match.
“I learned a lot here and the people are very friendly.”
Star player Hardmeyer (21) leaves for Germany’s third Bundesliga. “I’ve learned a lot here and the people are very friendly. I hope in Germany I can take a step forward in the coming years.”
Scharrer (age 19) is Hardmeier’s roommate with his Dutch host family. He transfers to a boarding school in Germany to focus on table tennis full time. He will continue to play for Oden next year, in part because of his good relationship with the coach. “He knows everything about the opponents and always stays calm. He knows that sometimes things go well in the game and sometimes less.”
Gootzen would like to win the Dutch title and play in Europe: “In my career I have won many national titles and played in European and World Championships. Sport is in my DNA. I’m definitely not done yet. I want to do my best with this team.”
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