In his career in this sport, and with only 14 years old, Santiago Montes has won countless titles that confirm him as one of the best tennis players in Colombia.
In August, he was elected as the # 1 racket at national level, and now his goal is to continue carrying the honor of being the best. For that reason, in the National Table Tennis tournament that took place from October 4 to 8 in the city of Bogota, Santiago was ratified as the # 1 racket in the U15 category. There, he won 6 medals (2 gold and 4 silver) in the double, mixed and individual team modalities. But as if that were not enough, he also competed in the U21 category, where he was crowned as the # 2 racket: the first time that, in these tournaments, a 14 year old youngster is the second racket in this category.
The next tournament will be "Supérate", an intercollegiate tournament organized by Coldeportes, which brings together the best tennis players from schools nationwide. This tournament is perhaps the most important of the year, since the best will qualify to the South American. For his part, Santiago, representative of Gimnasio de Los Cerros, due to his trajectory and experience in these tournaments, has many possibilities to assure the classification.
We wish Santiago Montes every success!
Interview with Santiago Montes
How many years have you been playing table tennis?
I have been playing tennis since I was 9 years old.
How many titles do you keep at home and which has been the most important?
At home I have between 160 and 180 medals from all sports, as I love to practice sports and more competitively. I have 13 trophies and 50 national medals in table tennis, approximately. Of the most important titles, has been the Supérate games, where I won gold, silver and bronze. I also won 2 bronze medals in the South American championship in Paraguay, under 11 category.
What new sensation did this experience at the National leave you with?
After the Nationals, I feel very satisfied with the work I have done. I know that I can compete at a higher level than I expected and for that I will continue training with dedication.
How has the preparation for Supérate been?
For Supérate, I have trained a lot, I feel confident and have a positive attitude to represent the school and Bogota. I have been preparing a lot, both physically and mentally, because for me this is one of the most important tournaments.
How much time per week do you spend practicing?
I train between 3 and 4 days, 4 hours a day in order to raise my level faster. I don't train more days because school is getting harder and harder and on the days I train I get home at 9 p.m. to have dinner and then do my homework.
What is your greatest desire in table tennis?
I have many, but the most important is to be able to represent Colombia in some Olympic Games. For that, I need a lot of dedication, effort, sacrifice and a lot of training.
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