The currently best German table tennis player Benedikt Duda was eliminated in the first round of the international tournament in Frankfurt am Main.
The world number eight lost in 0:3 sets against Shunsuke Togami. The 24-year-old Japanese plays in the Bundesliga for German champions TTF Ochsenhausen.
Duda’s national team colleague Patrick Franziska won 3-2 against Frenchman Lilian Bardet after a set deficit of 0-2. On Wednesday there will be a German duel between former world number one Dimitrij Ovtcharov (37) and national player Andre Bertelsmeier, who is 17 years younger.
The only competition in the “World Table Tennis” (WTT) tournament series held in Germany will take place in Frankfurt’s Süwag Energie Arena until Sunday. The best players from China, the world table tennis power, are not taking part this year because a large national tournament is taking place at the same time in Guangdong.