Germany creates a sensation against South Korea

DGermany versus China – that was the final of the Olympic Games last year. And at the 2018 World Cup in Sweden. On Sunday there will be another rematch at the Table Tennis Team World Championships in Chengdu, but this time the conditions are completely different.

Because the German team marched into this final in the city of 20 million inhabitants in western China with an absolute outsider line-up: Dang Qiu, Benedikt Duda and Kay Stumper instead of Timo Boll, who was decorated with titles but was missing at this World Cup, Dimitrij Ovtcharov and Patrick Franziska.

“It was an amazing game”

One day after the great race to catch up against France, the surprise German team won the next table tennis thriller in the semi-finals on Saturday, beating South Korea 3-2. After a total playing time of more than three and a half hours, Duda beat the former World Cup bronze medalist An Jaehyun in the decisive fifth game in 3:1 sets.

“It was an amazing game,” said national coach Jörg Roßkopf. “It’s a pleasure to play in a World Cup final, even if many, many at home in Germany wouldn’t have believed us capable of it. You can see what an irrepressible will can do. The fact that we came back from a 2-1 deficit also shows what teamwork and team spirit are worth.”

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