There are many renowned players in table tennis who have had long and distinguished table tennis journeys, and Brazilian Olympian Thiago Monteiro’s career is one which has made a significant impact on Latin American Table Tennis.

In his younger years developing in the sport in Brazil, Thiago had great practice partners, but to that point no player had permanently moved overseas to follow their passion. While top players like Hugo Hoyama were playing seasonally in Europe, Thiago made a move that helped blaze a trail for the generations that followed.

In Episode 9 of Talkin’ Smash we sat down with the man himself and took a look back on Thiago Monteiro’s career, which took him from Brazil to Europe, eventually leading to living in France for over 20 years.

We spoke about the challenges of the earlier years, as well as how he felt about Latin American table tennis’ representation on the professional scene in Europe – and how it developed over the years. Of course Thiago is far to humble to say he played a prominent role in that, he says it is for others to say. We certainly know he has been a core figure in Brazilian and Latin American Table Tennis and have been proud to have him as part of Team JOOLA over the years!