Dyjas: I need to get used to the role of the Polish national team leader
- There is little representation in the world, in which less than 23-year-old is the oldest player. I think I need more performances and more experience. In the future, I would like to be one of the only ones that goes out and gets two points for the team - says Jakub Dyjas.
WOJCIECH OSIŃSKI: In the European Championships in Alicante, you competed as a bronze medalist from two years ago in the single, and meanwhile now he was eliminated in the first round with the average Diogo Carvalho. What happened?
JAKUB DYJAS: I was wondering about it the whole next day and I could not answer that question myself. Before the match in the warm-up, I felt good, there was no stress. The delay of this game also did not affect me. Just after the first few balls I suddenly felt like I had forgotten how to play ping-pong. I was not able to briefly serve. For the first time in my life this happened to me and I hope that the last one. I treated it as an accident at work and I am not going back to this failure.
Such a fast end of the championship is probably a big surprise for you, because this time the holiday preparation went rather well?
JAKUB DYJAS: Yes, I've trained in two weeks in China and Croatia. In Asia I did not have contact with trainers, I had to plan and give classes myself. Once in two or three years, it's worth going to workouts somewhere else, working out yourself, thinking about a few things. So far the start-up policy was planned by the club manager, now I'm doing it myself. I came back from China as a more professional player. I train more consciously.
It is said that to achieve success in table tennis, one must give one hundred percent to this sport. The Lord is already giving you 100 percent of it?
JAKUB DYJAS: To be honest, not yet. The football player Robert Lewandowski is a model of professionalism for me. I'm not such a professional yet. I do not put away food containing gluten, but for example, I used to go to McDonalds quite often, but not at all quite often. It's the same with Coke. I pay attention to what I eat, I started to drink soy milk, I care for myself. I used to visit a physiotherapist, when something hurt me, now I do it prophylactically according to the principle that prevention is better than cure.
Before this season, there were some changes in your club. First of all, the coach - Dmitry Mazunov replaced Dubravko Skorić. Did you feel this castling?
JAKUB DYJAS: A bit sure, but Skorić - although he is no longer the main trainer - still remains in our training group and I still work with him. In total, we have four trainers. It has changed that now Mazunow is sitting on the bench during the match, and he, due to his serious career, feels better than Skorić, who in turn is perfect during training. He is a true master of perfectionism.
Once you were famous for a perfect attack on the backhand. I have the impression that recently I see this play much less often with you, and if you do, you often spoil it.
JAKUB DYJAS: This is partly because rivals already know me and do not play a ball that is suitable for such an attack. And when the ball will go deeper into the backhand, I'm surprised and I miss it. In fact, with this backside it was so, that as I felt good, I fired the bombs one after the other, but when I did not have a good day, it did not look that good. I lost three or four balls and lost the sets to 7, 8. So if I was looking for a different solution then I could win. I noticed that matches can also be won in a different way than with beautiful strokes. I try to avoid simple mistakes in the initial phase of the action. Although I admit that in longer exchanges I still feel good and I win about 70 percent of them.
When before the Bundesliga season I saw the team of Liebherr Ochsenhausen, Jakub Dyjas was theoretically the weakest of the five players. Did not you worry about the place in the warehouse?
JAKUB DYJAS: Ranking does not play. However, I admit that I was afraid that I would be less than last season, especially that this year we did not go to the Champions League. I knew, however, that if I trained well, I would get a chance, because no coach would be guided when choosing the composition of our places in the world ranking. I got a chance in two Bundesliga matches and won everything in them - three singles and doubles, so I gave a signal that it is worth putting on me. And as for the world ranking - I definitely have to play tournaments more often. I want to climb up, recently I was in the ninth decade, now I'm in the 62nd position. By the end of this season, I'm going to be among the 30 best singles in the world.
In the club, the pressure of the result looks a bit different than in the national team, in which you are the clear leader. Have you got used to this role already?
JAKUB DYJAS: Not quite and I have to get used to it, because my status in the team has changed quite abruptly. There is little representation in the world, in which less than 23-year-old is the oldest player. I think I need more performances and more experience. In the future, I would like to be one of those, which goes out and gets two points for the team.
This issue is very important in the context of the fight for promotion of the Polish male team to the Olympic Games in Tokyo. How do you see the odds?
JAKUB DYJAS: We do not have much time to prepare a team. At the moment I can say that we can afford a surprise and promotion, but we certainly will not be the favorite, because there are many teams stronger than us, not only in the world, but in Europe.
You have been playing in Germany for five years, Patryk Zatówka left this summer, and 16-year-old Samuel Kulczycki will do it next year. Is it a good career development path?
JAKUB DYJAS: In the case of Patryk and Samuel, it will turn out. I can say that I am very happy with my decision and if I had to choose again, I would do the same. In Poland, it is difficult to find a place with a large number of trainers and sparring partners, which is why groups in Germany are very popular.
Have you heard about Ping-pong National PGE?
JAKUB DYJAS: Yes, I really wanted to come, but I could not because we had matches on August 31 and September 2. I saw how it looks and I liked it a great idea. In Germany, nothing has been organized, there are similar events, but on a much smaller scale, clubbing, in smaller centers. For example, our league match against Borussia Düsseldorf, or team Timo Bolla, we have to play in a large hall in Munich at 10,000. viewers.
Despite all these trips, matches and trainings, you have also recently found time for engagement.
JAKUB DYJAS: That's right. I thought about it before to propose to Marta, but I wanted to do it in some special place. During the summer I was playing World Tournament in Australia and I thought that the beach would be a good place for such an event. Marta was surprised, although she probably expected that something like that would happen soon. I felt a light stress, but she said yes.
How do you live in Germany?
JAKUB DYJAS: It's getting easier as the years go by. In our small community everyone knows each other, it is peaceful. We will definitely stay until 2020, and then what we will see next. However, I can not imagine living outside Poland for good. Both my and Marty's favorite place is Gdańsk and we want to live there permanently.