POTA Georgina

Grip
Shakehand (ITTF, 02 Aug 2016)

Style of play
Attack (ITTF, 02 Aug 2016)

General
OLYMPIC LOVE
She met her husband Norbert at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, where they both represented Hungary. They got together in June 2011 and married six years later in May 2017. They played table tennis at their wedding ceremony. "We have a tradition that the bride should dance with the guests. So I changed the dance to ping pong. I wanted something funny and special. It was a little bit difficult to play my full strokes, I could not lift my arm so high because of the wedding dress." (magyarhirlap.hu, 27 Feb 2020; ittf.com, 24 May 2017)

MOTHERHOOD
In December 2019 she announced that she would be unable to compete at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo due to being pregnant with her first child. She was four months pregnant at the time, and the child was expected in mid-2020. However, the postponement of the 2020 Games meant she had the opportunity to compete in Tokyo after all. "In January 2019 we [she and husband Norbert] decided that if we wanted one or two kids before I was 40, we couldn't procrastinate any longer. Up until then table tennis had always been my first priority, and I've always had reason to put off the baby project." (magyarhirlap.hu, 27 Feb 2020; promotions.hu, 18 Dec 2019)

RETURN TO HUNGARY
In 2020 she joined SH-ITB Budaorsi Sport Club, having previously played with TTC Berlin Eastside in Germany. She had played abroad for more than 10 years, and the decision to return to Hungary was influenced by her pregnancy. "I am very happy to be able to return home after more than 10 years. I have been negotiating many times with the team in recent years, so I formulated the thought of being back home for a couple of years now. I am glad to be able to play in a Budaorsi jersey because it is a professional club in which I can imagine my future. I really want it to be not just a one-year thing, but a collaboration for many years. The main thing was to keep the league matches within reach of Budapest by train or car so that my mum or husband could come with me to take care of the baby while I was playing. It's good that I've planned it this way, and we'll see how it goes." (magyarhirlap.hu, 27 Feb 2020; ettu.org, 09 Sep 2020)

SHYNESS
As a young girl she struggled with shyness, and says moving to play in Germany forced her to overcome this. "I didn't have school friends because I was home-schooled from grade five and I had only a 10-day break during summer time. Other school children were hanging out together and I didn't know them. I didn't like to communicate with others and I was very introverted. This changed when I was 18 and I started speaking and opening up to others. I decided not to live in my world and realised the beauty of getting to know other people's views. It was very challenging when I started playing in Berlin because I had to thank the fans after our league matches. Since I was shy, it was really difficult for me and I had to overcome this fear." (dorakurimay.com, 29 Oct 2014)