Well-known Romanian table tennis player Bernadette Szocs made history on Sunday, May 25, after winning the silver medal at the World Table Tennis Championships in Doha, Qatar.<\/p>\n
Szocs and Sofia Polcanova (Austria), the reigning European vice champions, won five matches in women\u2019s doubles in Qatar. They faced off against undefeated Chinese pair Wang Manyu \/ Kuai Man in the final, and lost 0-3.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis silver medal is Bernadette\u2019s first at the senior level and makes her the first Romanian player to win a world medal in women\u2019s doubles in several decades!\u201d Romania\u2019s Olympic Council said in a post on Facebook.<\/p>\n
Bernadette Szocs, 30, and Sofia Polcanova are the first athletes from Europe to play in a women\u2019s doubles world final since 1977. The last Romanian woman to medal at the World Individual Championships was Otilia B\u0103descu, who won bronze in 1993.<\/p>\n
Asian players usually dominate the top of the ranking of female table tennis players.<\/p>\n
Last year, Bernadette Szocs won two silver medals<\/a> at the European Individual Table Tennis Championships in Linz, Austria, first at the women\u2019s doubles event and then at the singles event.<\/p>\n The Romanian athlete is currently ranked 12th worldwide in the ITTF Table Tennis Rankings.\u00a0<\/p>\n