Table tennis player Nina Mittelham is one of the top performers at ttc berlin eastside. However, the club will miss her in the first half of the Bundesliga season. The 25-year-old is drawn to Japan for a guest performance.
13th in the world rankings, 2nd in the German rankings: Nina Mittelham is one of the big names in table tennis. The 25-year-old from Willich has been playing for ttc berlin eastside since 2018 and was able to win the treble of championship, cup and Champions League with the team in 2021. But her ambition doesn’t stop there. Mittelham’s big goal is to finish in the top ten: “It’s been my dream since I was really little that my name will appear there someday.”
To this end, Mittelham will embark on a special journey over the next six months. She foregoes the first half of the Bundesliga season and instead plays for the Japanese T-League club Kyushu Asteeda. However, because she wants to continue playing for Berlin in the Champions League, Mittelham will commute. The center of her life remains in Germany and in between she is always in Japan for a few weeks. Moving to Japan completely for her guest performance was out of the question for her: “My family is here and I wouldn’t be able to do it without them. If I were to move to Japan for six months now, it would be mentally too much. “
Support after the EM
Mittelham has also been able to rely on the support of her family in recent weeks. At the European Table Tennis Championships, which took place as part of the European Championships in Munich, the 25-year-old made it to the final, but the tournament did not end as desired. In the final, Mittelham faced Austria’s Sofia Polcanova. When the score was 0:2 sets, Mittelham had to apply for a break in treatment. Her right shoulder had already given her problems in the semifinals. Although she was able to return to the hall afterwards, she had to stop after four points. With tears, Nina Mittelham congratulated her competitor on the title.
The shoulder is now better again. “I started slowly getting back into training this week,” says Mittelham. However, she is still processing what she experienced. It would have been Mittelham’s first major singles title. “In any case, it’s still very, very difficult to digest. But I’m slowly realizing that I’ve become European Vice Champion despite everything, which shouldn’t be underestimated,” said the 25-year-old. She spent a little time with her family during the injury break: “That always helps a lot with something like that. To get out of this table tennis routine and everyday life and to deal with other things.”
After the European Championship final, Mittelham was asked about her injury-related task from many quarters and received well wishes via social media. “I don’t think many experience or will experience that in their careers. It’s not a nice moment,” says Mittelham. However, she does not count it as the hardest moment of her career so far. Last year, the 25-year-old was only the fourth player to be nominated for the Tokyo Olympics: “I think that was a lot worse for me at the moment.”
When a touch of Olympia comes to Germany
It was the hoped-for super event, with short distances and extreme proximity to the spectators. The European Championships showed what the Olympic Games sometimes miss. Jonas Schuetzeberg draws a conclusion for Berlin-Brandenburg.more
New opponents
Nina Mittelham wants to develop as a player so that this doesn’t happen again before the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. The station in Japan should help. “I just wanted to play against others again. I know everyone in the German league. I’ve played against them very, very often,” says Mittelham. In the Japanese league, there are more games against the same teams, but this can be set up freely. “It brings a lot more variety to the sport,” said the 25-year-old.
In her preparation, Mittelham also talked to other German players about the Japanese league. Her teammate Shan Xiaona has already gained experience there. While the table tennis tournaments in Berlin usually go under the radar with only a few spectators, the interest in Japan is much greater. “In Japan there is a completely different culture. You have to deal with different things. It speaks a different language, but these are all things that you can use to develop,” says Mittelham. She wants to use the time in Japan to develop both playfully and personally. And with the experience gained, Mittelham wants to go for the title again at the next individual European Championship.
Broadcast: rbb24, September 5th, 2022, 9:45 p.m
