The ambitious German table tennis men made a perfect start to the Team World Championships in Busan, South Korea, even without Timo Boll. Meanwhile, the German women celebrated their second victory.
National coach Jörg Roßkopf’s men’s team clearly won 3-0 against the USA in the first group game on Friday (February 16, 2024). Boll has since announced that he will not be taking part in the World Cup due to an inflammation of the iris in his eye.
Patrick Franziska, European champion Dang Qiu and Olympic bronze medalist Dimitrij Ovtcharov did not lose a set in their games. Franziska initially beat Jishan Liang 3-0, Qiu and Ovtcharov then defeated Nikhil Kumar and Nandan Naresh in their singles with the same result.
On Saturday (12 p.m.) the German team will face Saudi Arabia in the second game of Group 2. Other opponents in the group stage of the World Cup are England and Kazakhstan.
Boll declares he will not be taking part in the World Cup due to eye inflammation
Record European champion Boll was missing from the start of the World Cup due to inflammation of the iris in his right eye. After the 42-year-old had initially hoped to be able to travel later, he declared his intention not to travel on Friday following further examination. “I’m really disappointed that I’ll miss the World Championships, especially because I felt really good physically and my form was good,” said Boll. “But I have had this type of inflammation of the iris before and the doctors advised me to treat it accordingly and cure it so that the optic nerve is not permanently damaged.”
It would have been Boll’s 21st World Cup participation, but he has so far been denied a title as the crowning glory of his career. Boll, who recently won the WTT tournament in Doha, wanted to earn a ticket to the Olympics in Paris through good performances at the World Cup. It would be Boll’s seventh summer games.
The German team sees itself as the first challenger to the long-standing winners from China at the World Cup in Busan. Most recently, Boll and Co. made it to the final twice in a row and a total of five times at the last six team world championships since 2010, but were defeated by the Chinese there, as was the case at the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo. Germany has never won a title in the almost 100-year history of the tournament.
The DTTB selection would achieve its first goal by reaching the quarter-finals. This would make qualification for the Olympic Games next summer perfect.
Table tennis women win the first two games
The German women, who have already qualified for Paris, have now also won their second group game after their opening win against Poland. Nina Mittelham, Xiaona Shan (both TTC Berlin Eastside) and 17-year-old Annett Kaufmann (SV Böblingen) won 3-0 against Mexico in Busan on Saturday. The next opponent is Nigeria on Sunday.
