Nikoleta Stefanova Welcomes the Challenge
May 21, 2007

Nikoleta Stefanova, a player with an appetite for success Photo By: Miki Antic

Courtesy of ITTF Good preparation is absolutely essential for anyone who has aspirations to succeed at Liebherr World Championships in Zagreb; it is especially so for those who have shown that they possess the necessary credentials to cause the very best headaches. Italy’s Nikoleta Stefanova has graduated from being regarded as a promising junior to a senior of some stature, she is now one of Europe’s very best female players; her record against Asian opposition underlines that fact. However, the preparation program for the twenty-three Italian has been severely hampered.

Difficult
“The closing stages of the European Championships were really difficult for me”, sighed Nikoleta Stefanova. “We had to play Russia in the semi-finals of the team event, I played Svetlana Ganina and Irina Kotikhina; as the match wore on the pain in my right side just became worse and worse.”

Earlier in the day, Nikoleta Stefanova had felt the pain, she has a charming character, attractive but beneath lies a fierce determination to succeed; she is not a quitter and she never looks for excuses. If she feels pain then something is wrong.

Nerve
She had trapped the sciatic nerve in my right leg. “The pain just got worse and worse but no way was I going to give up”, continued Nikoleta Stefanova. “When I eventually got home the pain was very bad, it was in both sides of my body; I couldn’t walk, I spent five days in bed.”

Distressing Blow
It was a distressing blow. Soon after the European Championships came the European Champions League Final, her club Sterligarda Castelgoffredo were the defending champions and Nikoleta Stefanova had lost only one match en route to the final, that being against Krisztina Tóth.

Furthermore, one year earlier, she had been the heroine; in both finals she had remained unbeaten.

“I was totally devastated that I couldn’t play in the two finals”, said Nikoleta Stefanova. “I wanted to play so badly, I came to the practice session, I played for ten minutes and then I fell down, I couldn’t stand up!”

Mihaela to the Rescue
Sterligarda Castellgoffredo had to play without her; however, Nikoleta Stefanova need not have worried about her club.

To the rescue came the superb Mihaela Steff, she did what Stefanova had done in 2006; in the home leg she won both her matches, in the away leg she did the same. The trophy remained in Italian hands and Nikoleta Stefanova, clearly worried about letting her colleagues down, at last could smile.

Asian Adversaries
Her results in the European Champions League underline her pedigree; she is a player who is a threat to Asia.

She beat China’s Li Xiaoxia in 2002 at the Austrian Open and repeated the success at the Liebherr German Open in 2005. Also, she has wins to her credit over the latter’s colleague, Li Nan and at the Liebherr World Championships in Qatar in 2004 she made her mark by beating both Singapore’s Li Jia Wei and Japan’s Ai Fukuhara. Meanwhile, in 2006, she accounted for both Sayaka Hirano and Hiroko Fujii at the Brazil Open and two years earlier in Slovenia defeated Hong Kong’s Song Ah Sim.

Play Your Way
“I think when playing Asian opposition you have to play your way, don’t try to copy them”, smiled Nikoleta Stefanova. “It’s crucial you serve well and play a strong first attack; I try to win the point as quickly as possible and not become involved in rallies, for me it’s better if they play to my backhand!”

Against the right hander, Nikoleta Stefanova can creates wide angles from her backhand but whatever the opposition she has proved that she can compete with the oriental opponents.

A Surprise
Playing your way and expressing yourself is how Nikoleta Stefanova has succeeded; in Zagreb, her preparations owing to injury have been curtailed. “I practiced for ten days”, she said. “Thankfully I’m now fit, no injuries.”

That is good news for her club and her country; it’s also good news for the Liebherr World Championships; she might just cause a surprise.