I had the pleasure of sitting down with long-time JOOLA Athlete and Brazilian Olympic Table Tennis player, Thiago Monteiro. He was coaching at the Pan Am Cup in Texas, so it was a great opportunity to fly him out and have him with us here at JOOLA HQ in Rockville, MD!
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| Thiago Monteiro joined me to talk about his career and legacy in table tennis - Talkin' Smash Episode 9! |
Thiago spoke about his career from the early beginnings, and I was particularly interested to hear about how he made the decision to move to Europe. At the time there weren't really any role models to follow. Hugo Hoyama was travelling to Europe but still living in Brazil. Monteiro made a bold move, one which would result in him spending his 20+ year career living in France and competing in leagues across Europe.
I also asked Thiago about how he thought about his influence on the generations of players which came after him, and the legacy he has left in the sport for both Brazilian and Latin American players as a whole.
