Table tennis life is dominated by travelling and playing for the club. So as a professional it’s very difficult to build relationships. These table tennis couples are mastering this challenge for many years in grandiose manner:
João Monteiro (36) & Daniela Dodean (31)
The portuguese Monteiro and romanian Dodean married in July 2013, in April 2015 they became parents of a daughter.
„For me, the best things I have received in my life is first marrying my husband, and then the birth of my daughter Lara. I would give up everything in the world to make my daughter happy“, Dodean told ittf.
Dimitrij Ovtcharov (31) & Jenny Ovtcharov (31, former Mellström)
Former swedish player Jenny Ovtcharov and two times european champion Dimitrij Ovtcharov are married since 2014.
While D. Ovtcharov is still competing very strong on the ittf-tour (currently world-ranking 12), Jenny works flexible as online marketing manager for the two private schools from her parents.
In 2015 she also made her comeback in tabletennis sports, as she played in the third league for Borussia Duesseldorf.
„I enjoy working, learning new things, and wanting to develop as a person, regardless of what Dima works and earns“, Jenny Ovtcharov told myTischtennis.
Zhenqi Barthel (32) & Tiago Apolonia (33)
The in Laimin, China born and 2002 to Germany moved Barthel and the in Lissabon born former world number 9 Apolonia married in July 2016.
In December 2017 they became parents of a son. Whereas today Tiago is still playing in the german „TTBL“ for TTC Neu-Ulm, Barthel lives in Lissabon where she takes care of their son Santiago.
„We are either traveling or playing. But that’s how it is as a table tennis pro. My wife knows this fortunately and understands it“, Apolonia explained to Südwest Presse.
Christian Süß (34) & Elke Schall-Süß (46)
Elke Schall, former table tennis professional, world number 29 and Christian Süß, four-times european doubles-champion with Timo Boll are in a relationship since 2006.
Six years later they married in Duesseldorf.
While Süß is nowadays a honorary coach for the german table tennis boarding school, Elke Schall-Süß is a self-employed fitness-coach.
„Working as a ‚personal trainer‘ has given me more contact with people outside the table tennis who also talk about very different topics. That’s very interesting and something different“, Schall-Süß declared DTTB in an interview.
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