Badminton success in Thailand: Two silvers for Tanja Eberl

It has got to the point where she can hardly count all her medals. As a badminton player, Tanja Eberl has taken part in many German, European and World Championships, taking home gold, silver and bronze on multiple occasions. Yet there is always room to go one better, as the administrative assistant at LMU’s Japan Center found at the World Senior Championships from 7-14 September in Pattaya, Thailand.

One reason was that she was able to add two new silver medals in the 55+ age bracket to her collection: in the ladies’ singles and (together with a Dutch partner) in the ladies’ doubles. Another was the peerless atmosphere of the event. “More participants than usual turned out: nearly 1,700 from more than 50 countries,” she recounts. “It was the best attended World Senior Championships to date. Former world champions were there, as well as former Olympic contestants.” The President of the World Badminton Association, herself a Thai national, attended both the opening ceremony and the awards ceremony, noting that Thailand “is badminton-crazy”.

A club player from the age of ten

Tanja Eberl’s playing career began as a child in her hometown of Böblingen. “My parents played badminton at a club back in the 1970s, and I was desperate to do the same.” But the trainer told her she could only join when she was twelve. “My parents believed in me, though. There was a tournament in our town; and I said that, if I won my age group, I wanted a racquet as my prize and then I would begin. I won, so I was allowed to play at the club at the early age of ten.” She was successful, too.

Her education brought her to Munich during her teen years. Here, she caught up with her Abitur – and “was then able to fulfill my dream”, in her own words. “I had always wanted to study, and LMU had exactly the courses I wanted: German with Japanese studies and ethnology as minor subjects.”

Another dream later came true: Eberl worked for 20 years as a sports editor at the sports channel DSF (now Sport1). “I then saw the LMU advertisement for a job at the Japan Center. And I thought, that’s what I want to go back to. I just wanted a fresh challenge and to try something new.”

Challenges confronted her body as well: Eberl felt pain in her right knee and was diagnosed with arthrosis. She initially underwent conventional therapy, with an operation followed by rehabilitation, and then hung up her racquets.

But just when she thought she had got over everything and wanted to start playing again, the pain immediately returned. “I was frustrated. But then, in my mid-30s, I encountered something completely new. I discovered how good karate and Thai Chi were for my body. I read all the literature on the subject, looked into healthy nutrition and ultimately found a fantastic athletics trainer and a good osteopath.”

A combination of willpower, perseverance “and a lot of luck” helped her reach her goal: “Today, I really have virtually no pain anymore.” It was certainly the right way back into her favorite sport. Since then, she has returned to regular training, coaches a third-division team – and is chalking up sporting successes once again. The 2025 German Championships guaranteed her a place at the World Seniors Championships in Thailand.

While talking about the present, her mind wanders way back to Böblingen. Back then, her parents and their club numbered among the badminton pioneers: “The neighboring town even had a team in the national league, and I moved to them while I was still a youngster,” she says. “I still bump into some of my former team mates at tournaments today. In fact, three players from my former club were in Pattaya. It’s wonderful – sharing experiences and seeing how long we can keep going.”

Tanja Eberl is not sure whether she can kindle the same enthusiasm in her LMU milieu. Some colleagues followed her matches as spectators, but she was at least able to get some to join in with yoga sessions in the breaks. “That is good for their mobility, because they simply spend too much time sitting down.”