Yuan Jia Nan holds fond memories of Linz. It was here at the 2019 ITTF Platinum event that the Chinese-born French player first stepped onto the podium on a major stage, claiming mixed doubles bronze.
In 2022, she reached the pinnacle of her mixed doubles career, partnering with Emmanuel Lebesson to secure gold at the European Championships in Munich. The pair had previously won bronze in the same event in Warsaw in 2021. In Poland, the five-time French champion also added a doubles bronze to her tally.
At the Tokyo 2021 Olympics, the formidable mixed doubles pair narrowly missed out on a medal, finishing in fourth place. However, in 2024, Yuan, who became a French citizen in 2011, celebrated her first major singles triumph by defeating European champion Sofia Polcanova in the final of the Europe Top 16. As a result, she enters the European Championships in Linz as a strong contender for a medal in the singles event.