Jee to play amongst the worlds best in Nimes

Table Tennis Australia (TTA) National Squad member Minhyung Jee will depart for France next week to compete for Alliance Nîmes/Montpellier, as part of the French Pro A League.

The French Pro A League is one of the strongest female table tennis leagues in Europe, with numerous players ranked amongst the world’s top 100.

The two-time Australian Champion said the invitation to compete in Europe is an honour and will be key to her success, as she looks to represent Australia in international table tennis.

“I’m very excited but also very nervous. It’s going to be very hard in France but it will push me to become a better player,” Jee said.

“My goal is to play for Australia. I want to go to the Commonwealth Games, and I would love to win gold in Birmingham."

The former South Korean representative burst on the Australian table tennis scene after moving to Brisbane in December 2016, and said competing amongst some of the world’s best will give her an extra edge as she awaits her citizenship.

“When I play in France, I will play against athletes at a higher level, and the more I play at that level, the more I can learn and improve.”

Since training with the National Squad, Jee has been the one to beat and has yet to be defeated by any other female athlete on the domestic scene, but it’s her passion for the sport that has pushed her to seek new opportunities.

“When I moved to Australia, I took a break from table tennis because I was exhausted. I had been playing for so many years. After six months, I visited a table tennis club just for fun, and kept going back,” she said.

“I played every day with them. Then I tried a very small competition and I won that, and met some great people.

“Table tennis has become fun again for me. I’m enjoying every moment and I want to succeed for Australia.”

Under the tutelage of TTA Performance Coach Franck Roguiez, Jee has diligently prepared for the season ahead. After three months of daily training in her hometown, she relocated to Sydney to join the TTA daily training environment before fine tuning her preparation in Melbourne with guidance from TTA Head Coach John Murphy and TTA Pathway Manager Simon Gerada before she departs for France on the September 28.

In relocating overseas, Jee will become the second National Squad member to compete in Europe this year, after Dillon Chambers relocated to Germany earlier this month to further his career.

“It will be very interesting for Minhyung to test herself at a close level to what she will be facing in future international competition,” said Murphy.

“In order to be competitive on the international scene, our players need to be exposed to the international level on a regular basis, and we’re thrilled players like Min and Dillon are flying the flag in Europe which is the hotbed of international table tennis. It is our goal to have more of our players make this move in the coming years.

“We’ve had multiple players basing themselves overseas over the last two decades, including one of our most successful athletes, Commonwealth Games silver medallist William Henzell, who played more than 10 seasons in Europe.

“We feel this is the next step for Min, and this will surely be the start of a bright future as she looks ahead to compete for Australia.”

Jee will play her first match against Saint Quentin TT1 on October 12. TTA will share the livestream on its Facebook page.