"After the Olympics I was quite tired and exhausted," says Solja. She had two weeks vacation directly after Rio, but numerous media commitments did not allow her to swith off properly. Until the European Individual Championships in Budapest, the 22-year-old didn’t practice as much as usually. And in addition, she was nominated for the Women’s World Cup in Philadelphia at short notice which affected the preparation for Europe's most important tournament. In the end, she missed the women’s single semi-finals very closely. In doubles she lost the final partnering Shan Xiaona against their German nationalteam-mates Sabine Winter and Kristin Silbereisen in dramatic seven games.

Preparation for WTTC has already begun

Nevertheless, the last twelve months were probably the most successful of her career - for the first time, she jumped into the Top 15-World Ranking, reached a third place at the 2015 Women's World Cup, played a successful 2016 WTTC in Kuala Lumpur and surprisingly won the silver medal at the Olympic team event in Rio. But Solja looks ahead: "I want to make the leap into the Top 10 next year and I'm looking forward to the World Championships of course." Like so many of her colleagues, the native Rhineland-Palatinate now lives in Düsseldorf. Thus, the 2017 WTTC is a home game, that she already has in the back of her head. Next to this there is more than half a year to go and she still has many challenges to master with her club ttc berlin eastside. But of course, the preparation for the LIEBHERR World Championships has already begun. Anyway, World Championships in her own country, more precisely in her place of residence are something very special, underlines Petrissa Solja.

Supported by the crowd

Being 22 years old, the German is still at the beginning of her career. However, she is able to deal with the pressure very well. At team semi-final in Rio, she turned a 3:9 deficit at decision game against Mima Ito. Pressure will not slow her down at the 2017 WTTC. On the contrary: "It is fun for me playing in front of the home crowd. I like it, when the hall is corwded and spectators are in a good mood and yell for us players". At the last World Individual Championships 2015 in Suzhou, she failed unhappily in the second round. This time, of course, this should be different: "The audience in Düsseldorf will push me and hopefully help me, to surpass my limits".

Tickets for all days still available

According to Solja, there will be a great atmosphere at Düsseldorf: "It would be a pity if you missed the occasion on which the next World Champion from Germany is crowned", she says with a smile. So, if you do not have any tickets yet, you should get some here on this website. Tickets are available from 10 euros, including the use of public transport.