The German table tennis men confidently made it into the round of 16 at the World Team Championships in London. In their first game of the knockout round, Benedikt Duda, Patrick Franziska and Dang Qiu clearly beat Slovenia 3-0 and underlined their ambitions to play for a medal.
Benedikt Duda kicked off with his duel against Deni Kozul. Duda lived up to his role as favorite right from the start and took a 1-0 lead in the set. The Slovenian kept up well in the second round, but the 32-year-old German ultimately prevailed 12:10. With a confident third set he secured the first point for Germany. “I’m glad I solved it so well”Duda explained afterwards in the association interview.
Franziska wins Saarbrücken team duel
Patrick Franziska was then allowed into the box against Slovenia’s top player, Darko Jorgic. The duel between the Saarbrücken teammates got off to a very bad start for the German, who quickly found himself 5-0 behind, but then fought back and was then able to secure the first round. “We know each other so well that every ball counts. He is an absolute world-class player”explained the German.
The second set started like the previous one: with a big lead for Jorgic. This time the Slovenian pulled through mercilessly – with only one counter point he equalized 1-1 after sets. But Franziska hit back in the third set and didn’t let the victory be taken away from her afterwards.
Qiu makes the round of 16 perfect
In the duel between the two players in third position, Dang Qiu was able to secure Germany’s place in the round of 16 against Slovenia’s 45-year-old veteran Bojn Tokic. “It was important that we drew the games beforehand and that I then had a comfortable situation”said Dang.
With the 2-0 lead behind him, the number ten in the world made it clear that he didn’t want to miss the opportunity to win – with a clear 3-0 game win he brought the DTTB men into the next round.
Men against Hong Kong, women against North Korea
The next opponent is Hong Kong on Wednesday at 6 p.m. “In contrast to before, they are more balanced. We have to give full throttle and know that we have to show a good team performance”national coach Jörg Roßkopf gave an outlook on the upcoming game.
The German women, who clearly defeated Malaysia on Monday, are also in the round of 16. National coach Tamara Boros’ team will face North Korea on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m.
