Bernadette Szőcs Explained

Bernadette Szőcs
Fullname:	Bernadette Cynthia Szőcs
Nickname:	Bernie
Residence:	Bremen, Germany
Birth Date:	5 March 1995
Birth Place:	Târgu Mureș, Romania
Equipment:	Tibhar
Hrank:	8 (16 April 2024) ^[1]
Crank:	8 (16 April 2024)^[2]
Height:	1.59 m^[3]
Weight:	48 kg
Show-Medals:	yes

Bernadette Cynthia Szőcs (hu|Szőcs Bernadette Cynthia; born 5 March 1995) is a professional table tennis player from Romania.^{[4] [5]}

She is the incumbent European games champion in women's singles and a three time Olympian, having participated in 2016, 2020 and 2024 editions of summer Olympics.

Career

In September 2011, she travelled to Argentina for the World Junior Circuit event where she overtook Kasumi Ishikawa to reach the top spot in the competition series.^[6]

In July 2012, she was ranked 5th in the ITTF World Junior Circuit.^[7]

Szőcs won the singles event in the inaugural season of T2, beating Feng Tianwei in the final. Bernadette started to play Table Tennis at 9 years of age for CS Gloria Bistrița-Năsăud. She was declared the 68th honorary citizen of Bistrița in 2018.^[8] She was suspended in 2017 and signed with CSA Steaua București in 2019.^[9]

Szőcs played for Dabangg Delhi TTC in Ultimate table tennis, a table tennis league in India.

In August 2019 she was ranked no. 14 in the world in the International Table Tennis Federation rankings and no. 1 in the European Table Tennis Union rankings, and in July in the T2 Diamond event, became the first player to use a coloured rubber – pink.

In Szőcs's first international match in 2021, Szőcs upset second seed and world ranked number 8 Cheng I-Ching in the round of 32 of the WTT Contender event at WTT Doha.^[10]

Personal life

Szőcs is of Hungarian descent. She has an older brother, Hunor, who is also a table tennis player.^[11]

Singles titles

Year	Tournament	Final opponent	Score	Ref
2017	ITTF Challenge, Brazil Open	Audrey Zarif	4–0	^[12]
2018	Europe Top 16	Li Jie	4–1	^[13]
2023	European Games	Xiaoxin Yang	4–3	^[14]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Rank History. results.ittf.link. 25 February 2024.
2. Web site: ITTF Table Tennis World Ranking. ittf.com. 4 July 2023.
3. Web site: Bernadette Szőcs. olympedia.org. 27 June 2023.
4. Web site: BERNADETTE CYNTHIA SZOCS. cosr.ro. ro. 27 June 2023.
5. Web site: Biography . realitatea.net . January 4, 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110203080711/http://www.realitatea.net/multipla-campioana-nationala-si-europeana-bernadette-szocs-implineste-vineri-15-ani_703376.html . February 3, 2011 .
6. Web site: Se vrea recompensarea campioanei europene, târgumureșeanca Szőcs Bernadette, cu 15.000 de lei. Punctul. 16 November 2017. ro.
7. Web site: Under 18 World ranking . International Table Tennis Federation . 4 July 2012 . 11 January 2012 . 8 March 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160308010303/http://www.ittf.com/_front_page/ittf1.asp?category=u18_wr . dead .
8. Web site: Bernadette Szocs, oficial al 68-lea cetățean de onoare . Timp online . 22 February 2018 .
9. Web site: Berni, bistrițeanca, spulberă tot la naționale! Gloria- 3 medalii, CSM – praful de pe tobă!. Sportul bistritean . 27 March 2023. ro.
10. Web site: WTT Doha Day 1 Recap and Day 2 Preview. March 3, 2021. edgesandnets.com. March 3, 2021. March 4, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210304075149/https://edgesandnets.com/2021/03/03/wtt-doha-day-1-recap-and-day-2-preview/. dead.
11. Web site: Interviu cu Hunor Szocs: "Obiectivul meu este mai mare decât a fi unul dintre cei mai buni jucători români". Ziarul de Sport. 15 April 2012. ro.
12. Web site: First for Bernadette Szocs, victory in São Paulo. ittf.com. 7 May 2017. 28 June 2023.
13. Web site: Review Day Two: Timo Boll and Bernadette Szocs claim titles on emotional final day in Montreux. ittf.com. 4 February 2018. 28 June 2023.
14. News: Table tennis - 2023 European Games: Bernadette Szocs wins gold medal in women's singles. AGERPRES. 27 June 2023. 28 June 2023.