Bruna TAKAHASHI

The „Cornilleau Team“ Interview

How did you get into ping?

My father is Japanese and close to my old home, exists a Japanese club that have table tennis classes only at night. My father brought me there to make something, to not stay only on the internet or without any physical activity. So, we started together to practice table tennis there for fun.

And then what path did your career take?

Well, I started on Acrepa (Japanese club in São Paulo) in 2008 and used to have classes during the night twice a week, on Tuesday and Thursday. I was lucky as the teacher was Monica Doti, who already participated on two Olympics Games, representing Brazil. She was a very good teacher; she saw something on me and invested her time and practices with me.

In 2010 I was invited to make more classes with her, but during the day and into another location, so now I was able to have a training the whole week after lunch (in the morning I was going to the school).

Them I was invited to go to São Caetano do Sul in 2011, the club that I still represent in Brazil until now. I was able to see some high-level players there and was amazed to be in the same club that those people were practicing. The place was a little bit small; it only supported eight tables and had a lot of people to practice. I started there in the last table.

Now the club is in the same place, but it moved to a big gymnasium.
When in Europe, I used to go to Denmark also to have a training there. Last year I was contracted by Sporting de Lisboa from Portugal to play one season for them and I was training in Porto.

What type of player are you? How would you define your game?

I’m an offensive player and my game is fast, trying to bring the opponent in my rhythm.

What is your favorite shot and why?

I think backhand is my favorite one, because it’s the fastest move for girls (in my opinion) and you can put a lot of power and make a lot of variation. I also practice a lot free to backhand during training sessions, because you don’t know where the ball is coming, so looks like you are in real game.

What are the most significant moments of your career?

I think it was in 2015 when I won the ITTF World Cadet Challenge in Egypt. I was the first Latin American player to achieve this. When I was around eleven, people or even interviews asked me what was my dream, I always said I wanted to be a world champion so it was very special for me because I reached one of my dreams. Also the participation of the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, it was amazing the atmosphere, the people cheering for us, it was an incredible experience.