From Böblingen to Paris: the Annett Kaufmann success story
Annett was born in Wolfsburg in 2006 and discovered her passion for table tennis at the age of four. She has learned to use both hands in everyday life. For example, she uses her right hand for writing and throwing - but Annett plays table tennis with her left hand. She used Tibhar equipment right from the start and became a Tibhar contract player at the age of 6. Her first club was TTC Bietigheim-Bissingen, after which she moved to SV Böblingen in 2019 and SV-DJK Kolbermoor in 2024. When she joined SV Böblingen, Annett Kaufmann also began to make a name for herself at tournaments.
Annett Kaufmann and her training with Spinsight
After her success at the Olympics, Annett Kaufmann was celebrated in the media as the hope of German table tennis. She was able to prove her strengths in spectacular matches against top players such as Miwa Harimoto from Japan: Annett impressed with outstanding reaction speed and tactically clever strokes. This enabled her to throw even high-profile opponents off their stride. But what is her secret? In addition to exceptional talent and hard training, Spinsight also makes a decisive contribution.
Annett Kaufmann has been supported by the ESN compass foundation (a sponsorship program for players up to the age of 15) since the beginning of her career. Today, she is part of the ESN sports support group ACE (Athlete Centered Ecosystem). ACE's mission is to create optimal conditions for the best table tennis players so that they can reach their full potential. In 2021, Annett Kaufmann became the first official Spinsight contracted player. Since then, she has been using the technology regularly - even when insecurities creep in.
- Using data-based analyses and in-app training tips on stroke technique (such as the use of the wrist or hip rotation), stroke quality can be precisely measured and optimized.
- Among other things, Spinsight focuses on serve training, which many players tend to neglect.
As a result, Annett Kaufmann not only made considerable progress in her stroke quality, but also in her stroke variation and anticipation. This in turn has a positive effect on her mental skills, which are required in critical game situations.
The development of her topspin shot is particularly remarkable:
- During our first spin measurement in January 2020, she achieved around 100 revolutions per second (rps) with her forehand topspin against backspin. When she started training regularly with Spinsight 1.5 years later in August 2021, she was already a lot more mature tactically - but her shot quality, especially her spin values, had hardly changed.
- Her coach Evelyn Simon worked very focused with Annett on her wrist use and so she increased her spin in only 3 months by about 12% in forehand topspin against backspin.
- Today (as of 2024) it is already 135 rps. This puts her ten revolutions above the average for the professional women.
The left-hander's greatest strength is her backhand: as a cadet girl, she already managed over 130 rps - more than most adult players. Nevertheless, Annett also continued to train her strengths. Her coach Krisztian Nagy, who has an excellent backhand himself, worked with Annett to optimize this stroke. Today she holds the women's spinsight world record with over 160 rps for backhand topspin.
- In 2019, she made it all the way to the final of the European Youth Championships in cadet girls mixed doubles with Mike Hollo.
- In 2019 and 2020, she won the national ranking tournament for cadet girls.
- In 2020, she won the U15 Europe Youth Top 10 ranking tournament.
- 2021 was an outstanding year for Annett. She won three titles at the European Youth Championships in the U15 age category: In singles, doubles with Bianca Mei Rosu (Romania) and with the team. She won bronze in mixed doubles with Lleyton Ullmann.
- In 2021, she also became European U21 singles champion.
- In 2021, she even became European women's champion with the team and attracted attention with a singles victory against Slovakia.
- In 2022, she won two more titles at the European Youth Championships in the U19 age category, in singles and mixed with Iulian Chirita (Romania), as well as bronze with the team. This meant that Annett had won a gold medal in every possible age category at European Championships.
- At the 2022 European Championships in Munich, she made it through to the first knockout round in the women's singles against Natalia Bajor from Poland. In doubles, she and Franziska Schreiner reached the round of 16.
- In 2023, Annett Kaufmann won the WTT Feeder Tournament in Düsseldorf - her first international individual title in the adult class.
- In 2023, she also won her second title with the team at the European Women's Championships.
- At the 2023 World Youth Championships in Slovenia, she won bronze in singles and silver in doubles with Anna Hursey (Wales) and mixed doubles with Isaac Quek (Singapore) in the U19 age category. This made her the most successful participant from Europe.
- In 2024, she came in second in doubles with Sabine Winter at the WTT Star Contender in Doha.
- At the WTT Youth Star Contender 2024 in Tunis, Annett emerged victorious in the singles final and she reached the doubles final with Hana Goda. This meant that she had already won a title in all age groups at WTT tournaments.
- Annett Kaufmann became German champion in 2024. She won a gold medal in both the women's singles and doubles competitions at the 92nd German National Championships 2024 in Erfurt. In the singles, she beat Yuan Wan 4-0 in sets, while in the doubles she won with the same player against Franziska Schreiner and Sophia Klee.
- In 2024, Annett Kaufmann became the U19 singles youth world champion. She won the gold medal in the singles in Helsingborg after beating China's Zong Geman in the final. Kaufmann had previously defeated Hana Goda, the top seed and runner-up in the youth world rankings, in the semi-finals.
Annett Kaufmann at the 2024 Olympics
For the Summer Olympics in Paris, Annett was initially designated as a reserve player. When Han Ying had to sit out due to injury, she joined the team. National coach Tamara Boroš then even named Annett Kaufmann as number 1 so that she could play up to two singles matches. Boroš was spot on with this decision: Annett won both of her singles matches against the USA and India, unexpectedly leading her team to the semi-finals. By beating Lily Zhang (No. 27 in the world rankings), Rachel Sung, Manika Batra (WR 25) and Sreeja Akula (WR 22), Annett (WR 100) won against players who were ranked significantly higher than herself in the world rankings.
In the semi-final against Japan she won again, against none other than world number five Miwa Harimoto. However, it was not enough to win the overall team match and so she and the team narrowly missed out on the bronze medal after losing to South Korea in the third-place match.
With this outstanding performance, Annett has finally made the leap into top table tennis and, at the age of 18, gives hope that this was just the beginning of a great career.
"It's super helpful that I have a direct overview of the most important values during training. That helps me with my serve training in particular. When I play different variations and can directly compare the results: It helps me to understand much more quickly what I need to do differently to improve my stroke."