Dhe German table tennis men made a successful start to the World Team Championships in Chengdu/China. Individual European champions Dang Qiu (Düsseldorf), Benedikt Duda (Bergneustadt) and Ricardo Walther (Grünwettersbach) won their opening game on Friday against outsiders Kazakhstan 3-0. “Today was a good start. But of course we know that we will definitely be challenged more against India on Sunday,” said national coach Jörg Roßkopf ahead of his team’s next game. Other opponents in the preliminary round are France and Uzbekistan.
The women of the German Table Tennis Association (DTTB), who compete without the injured former European champion Petrissa Solja (Langstadt), also have to play against India in their first game on Saturday.
The German men’s team lost the World Cup final against China in 2018 and then became European champions in 2019 and 2021. However, the three top players Timo Boll, Dimitrij Ovtcharov and Patrick Franziska are missing from these World Championships. Boll and Ovtcharov are still in form after injuries. Franziska is taking a break because he recently became a father for the first time.
New number one is Dang Qiu. “We are happy that we were able to clearly win the first match. It’s an incredibly great honor to represent Germany,” said the 25-year-old: “We’re all happy to give a few more percentage points in our matches for that.”
