Until the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, this precocious talent of the French "ping", 18 years old, tells his journey to AFP. In this eighth episode, she evokes her desire "to go much higher" and the "big disappointment" experienced during the France Championships, at the end of March in Antibes (Alpes-Maritimes), marked by the loss of her singles title.
"The World Championships, obviously it's a dream. It's an extraordinary competition with incredible medals to go for, which stay for life. I can't wait to show everything I'm capable of," said the Saint-Denis hopeful, competing in mixed doubles and doubles, in addition to singles in South Africa.
"Being 85th in the world, I guess I can take a complicated draw pretty quickly, but I'll focus on the first opponent I'm going to have. The objective would be to get an eighth final. That would mean I would have made two or three perfs in the process, so that would be a good sign."
"Before the preparation with the France team at Insep (National Institute of Sport, Expertise and Performance, based in Paris), I was able to train for two weeks in Düsseldorf (Germany) where there are all the best German women, who are at the same time the best Europeans. It was very rewarding. It was the first time I had been there. It's a good preparation for the World Championships because that's the level you're looking for."
"The desire to go faster is still there. The goal is to be among the best. Even if it's good to have made the top 100, it's not the goal I set for myself. I want to go much higher, but it's normal that it takes time. I have to learn to be patient. It's up to me to seize opportunities when they come and achieve new performances."
"Finding the necessary resources"
"To come back (from the France Championships) with two titles in mixed doubles and doubles, it's great even if deep down, I have a big disappointment not to have won the singles (eliminated in the knockout rounds). We can't overlook two titles at the France Championships, especially since in mixed doubles, it was our first participation with Simon (Gauzy), and we won. With Camille (Lutz) we do a double (in women's doubles) so it shows that we are consistent."
French table tennis player Prithika Pavade poses after a training session in Créteil, May 12, 2021 © FRANCK FIFE / AFP/Archives
"In singles, even if Isa (Cok) played very well and deserved his victory, I know that, without wanting to sound arrogant, I could have done really better. I think there was room to go and win a second title (in a row). I don't consider that there was anyone impregnable. Even when Jia Nan (Yuan, six-time France champion and 16th in the world, absent in Antibes, editor's note) was there, I never considered that a girl was unbeatable."
"The pressure was a little different because I was really the favourite but it didn't play a huge role... It was more me who could not find the resources to pass this round. The disappointment is still there but it's just experience and it will help me for next year. I don't want to repeat that mistake."
French table tennis player Prithika Pavade at the Tokyo Olympics, in Tokyo, August 2, 2021 © JUNG Yeon-je / AFP/Archives
Interview by Ludovic LUPPINO
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