Brian has his hands screwed on properly

The 20-year-old Brian Schultz from Ilulissat has his hands screwed on properly – no matter what he touches.

As a carpenter's apprentice he is very comfortable with a hammer, saw and screwdriver – and as a top-level table tennis player he uses his hands with the same ease to juggle his bat and the small, fast and rather challenging 2.7 gram plastic ball.

Brian Schultz is an athlete to the point of being a man, but he also knows that it is the will to win that decides matches – both at the table tennis table and in life in general.

He demonstrated this over the weekend, when he, with a well-directed serve in the Brøndbyhallen, secured his club, B-75 from Hirtshals, victory in the Danish 2nd division of table tennis at the famous “Golden Set”, where everything is at stake.

It happened in the same week that he also scored his future apprenticeship at the carpentry company FA Tømrer og Snedker in the Hirtshals suburb of Tornby. Here he was put to work immediately. So that week consisted of both school and work in the evenings.

That didn't leave much time for training ahead of the 2nd division match – but it was Brian Schultz who decided the tournament with his sure serve and fighting spirit.

Sold to table tennis

It has been almost ten years since Brian Schultz first tried table tennis – in October 2017 in Ilulissat.

- I was sold on the spot. That was just me, he tells Sermitsiaq.

- I have of course tried a lot of sports when I was a child. But table tennis is something completely special. Mentally, team sports are not for me. I feel much better playing individually. And that's how it is in table tennis.

- When you stand at the table tennis table, you are alone – you, your bat, the ball and your opponent. This is where you have to show what you are good at – and that's what I do. I love it – and I was sold right from the first serve.

As a child, Brian Schultz moved around a lot with his mother, Karla Olsvig. This has been, among other places, Nuuk – and then Hirtshals, which plays a big role in his life. He has, among other things, attended the Nordsøen Fri Fagskole, where he got a taste for carpentry when he helped build a sauna on the beach in the large fishing town.

Want to be a carpenter

- It suited me well, so I have no doubt that it is a carpenter that I want to be, explains Brian Schultz, who also managed to start the basic course at the KTI school in Sisimiut last year.

But table tennis in Sisimiut did not offer much of a challenge. So after the first school course in Sisimiut, he returned to Hirtshals and continued his education at EUC Nord in Hjørring, while also joining the 2nd division team in B-75.

It was also in Hirtshals that he met his girlfriend Helle. The two moved together at home with Helle's parents, but the two have just got an apartment in Hjørring, which they are moving to in the next few days.

- It's a bit hectic at the moment. I've got an apprenticeship, I've played divisional table tennis and I'm living in a moving box, Brian Schultz smiles and looks as if it's the easiest thing in the world to keep three balls in the air at the same time.

Great experiences Despite his 20 years, Brian Schultz has tried a lot and has had great sporting experiences, because he is also on the Greenlandic table tennis national team. Here he competed for the European Championships in Malmö in 2024 and the year before he participated in the Island Games on the British Channel island of Guernsey off Normandy.

I would have liked to have shown you all my medals, but they are in a moving box at the moment, so you'll have to make do with my national team jerseys, Brian explains and shows off the jersey from Guernsey.

The shirt says it all, because on the back it says: "Greenland – B Schultz".

When the Danish Skills Championship – an apprenticeship competition – was held in Hjørring last week, Brian Schultz was also part of the Greenlandic delegation, which did not participate in the competition itself, but had a stand where they talked about educational opportunities in Greenland – and also promoted Greenland with seal flaying, national costumes, snowmobiles and kayaks.

Here he talked about his choices in life. There are many of them when you are young in Greenland.

- I have chosen to do my education in Denmark, even though I am Greenlandic and love Greenland. Not out of compulsion, but because here I can combine my education with my desire for table tennis at an elite level.

- It is my choice, and what is right for me. Others may feel differently, but I have followed my heart. You can certainly support Greenland, even if you live in North Denmark, explains Brian Schultz.

Like all elite athletes, Brian Schultz has also got a sponsor. It is Polar Seafood Danmark, which supports the Greenlandic table tennis talent.

- I am happy about that. But it is not just me. My brothers Rune and Marco are also sponsored.

Because Brian's interest and talent for table tennis has also been passed down to his brothers.

- You should especially pay attention to Marco. We will be hearing a lot more from him in the future. He is currently the best 8-year-old table tennis player in Denmark, says the proud older brother.