Table tennis professional Patrick Franziska has jumped into the top ten of the world rankings for the first time in his career.
In the new ranking, the 31-year-old is in ninth place. “Reaching the top ten has always been my dream,” said Franziska in a statement from the German Table Tennis Association (DTTB): “It was a goal that I worked towards and that’s why I’m very happy about it.” Most recently he was ranked 16th.
Success in the Grand Smash tournament
The player from Champions League winners 1. FC Saarbrücken recently impressed with second place at the Grand Smash tournament in Jeddah/Saudi Arabia. Franziska was the first non-Chinese to reach the final in the new tournament series. Despite the defeat against the Chinese world number one Wang Chuqin, he was able to look forward to almost $33,000 in prize money and 1,400 world ranking points – the counters then made him number nine in the world.
“A little proud”
“Normally I don’t look at the rankings so much because I know how quickly things can go in all directions,” said Franziska. Nevertheless, he is “a little proud”.
Only replacement in Paris
Despite his success, he only has the role of substitute at the Olympic Games in Paris. In April, the DTTB suggested European record champion Timo Boll, Dang Qiu and the two-time Olympic bronze medalist Dimitrij Ovtcharov for the Summer Games in Paris (July 26th to August 11th).
