Annett Kaufmann: Know all about the 18-year-old German paddler who beat both Manika Batra and Sreeja Akula today
Sreeja Akula is ranked 22nd and Manika Batra is ranked 25th in the world rankings but both came up against an 18-year-old paddler who surprised them. Ranked 100th, Annett Kaufmann of Germany defeated both the Indians who are ranked pretty higher compared to her.
Sports was in Kaufmann's DNA perhaps. Her father was a professional hockey player and her mother was a skiier. Even her elder sister Alexandra, who is five years elder to her, took up table tennis when she was young. The younger Kaufmann got into the sport at a pretty young age of four.
Annett Kaufmann's first international medal came in the form of silver, a feat she achieved in 2016 at the age of 10 in the Euro Mini Champ's U-11. Domestic success, however, came a bit later in 2018.
Speaking of her top-level achievements, Kaufmann won a team bronze medal at the World Team Table Tennis Championships 2022 in Chengdu. A year before that she bagged a gold medal along with her teammates at the European Table Tennis Championships.
Annett Kaufmann at the Paris Olympics 2024
Annett Kaufmann is a part of the Germany table tennis team. She took the stage yesterday, when her country defeated USA in the Round-of-16 clash. Notably, it was the teenaged paddler who became the match winner for Germany in this clash.
Next up, Germany took on India, consisting of Sreeja Akula, Manika Batra and Archana Kamath. In this encounter, Annett Kaufmann defeated both Akula and Batra whose rankings are far more superior than to her.
Germany will now take on Japan in the semi-finals of the team event at the Paris Olympics tomorrow. Japan are a top side which has the likes of Miu Hirano (who defeated Manika Batra in the individual event), Hina Hayata and Miwa Harimoto.
Notably, among the three Japanese, if Miu Hirano goes up against Annett Kaufmann, it will be an exciting match to witness. With both players having top quality, fans can be hopeful of an aggressive contest.