Madeline Goodsell is hoping her lethal backhand will take her all the way to the pinnacle of her sport.
The 17-year-old is a rising star on the Australian table tennis scene with her national under-18 ranking climbing to number three.
“I started playing when I was seven because both my brother and my dad played table tennis,” she said.
“I didn’t play nationals until I was 11 but ever since … I have been doing more serious competition.”
Goodsell has been in the middle of a busy schedule with back-to-back trips to Tweed Heads for major tournaments in the past month. She finished second at the Australian top 10 tournament, losing in the final to Western Australian Holly Nicolas.
The following week she returned to help Victoria to a bronze medal in the under-18 girls competition at the Australian junior championships.
Making her results even more impressive is the fact Goodsell has had to cut her training back to balance her year 12 studies.
The Caroline Springs resident is part of the specialised sports program at Maribyrnong College. “The school is great for me with all the facilities and everything we have access to,” she said.
“At the moment, because I am in year 12, I’m doing less training. I’m doing about 10 hours a week. Last year I was training five days a week.”
When her studies are over, Goodsell has her sights set on representing Australia in the Commonwealth Games and Olympics.
In the shorter term, she is aiming to qualify for the world junior championships which will be held in France at the end of the year.
“It would be pretty good to be able to qualify for that one in my last year of juniors,” she said.
“We have nationals in September and they are a qualifier for the world championships. If I end up in top four, I will be able to go to France.”
The Australian national championships will take place in Adelaide.
