25/09/2026
OPT-86 on saanut riveihinsä Espanjasta Suomen Kajaaniin muuttaneen naispelaajan Angela Pujante Parran. M***a mitä kaikkea tässä on taustalla? Ohessa Angelan haastattelu josta selviää paljon. Angela pukee OPT-86 paidan päälleen viikon päästä naisten sarjaturnauksessa Helsingissä.
Who is Angela? Tell us a little bit about your background.
I’m just a 18 years old girl who loves sport, being with her friends and family and discovering new different things out of my comfort zone. I’ve been practicing sport since I was 4 years. I played football for 6 years and now I’ve been playing tennis table for 5 years.
You live in Kajaani, what do you study there and how long do you plan to stay in Finland?
I study Sports Coaching and Business Management, and I plan to stay here for 3,5 years.
How did you get into table tennis and when did you start?
I’ve always liked table tennis since I’m a kid, playing it whenever I was with a table. But I started when I was 13, when I decided that I wanted to know more about this sport and become a good player.
Tell us a little bit about table tennis in Spain and in your club there? What kind of training place you have and what kind of competitions do you usually play?
In Spain table tennis is not widely practiced, and although the clubs don’t receive almost any governmental help, all of them are very hardworking, and have managed to develop Spanish top player and to make you enjoy this incredible sport. My hometown club is not very big but we have a very good team atmosphere and good training plan. The training place is a small school gym and we have to adapt the trainings to that place. However, we still progress a lot thanks to all the people who are involved in it. I regularly play regional league, regional tournaments who allow you to classify to national championships, women national 1st division league and national tournaments.
You have been here now for about a month and already played two competitions and trained in Kajaani and in Oulu, what are the biggest differences between your training and competing in Spain and this one month of experience in Finland?
The biggest difference that I’ve noticed it’s the environment in the competition. Spanish tournaments stand out for the noise, people yelling and cheering up being very loud and enthusiastic. Here everything is more organized, and everything in general is quieter. The trainings are similar in general terms, just the same as in tournaments, in Spain people talk more between each others.
How has the local table tennis community welcomed you and have you found good training partners?
They’ve given me a warm welcome, offering me a lot of help and facilities to help my development, even managing to have some trainings regularly.
What is the biggest culture shock you have run into so far?
Spanish people are very open, sociable and loud, always willing to talk. That’s something that it’s not normal here, and it is by far the biggest culture shock that I have run into.
I'll give you the final word. What else would you like to add?
I’m willing to share and to let Finnish people to discover a bit more about myself and about Spanish culture.
