The Düsseldorf European table tennis champion Dang Qiu received a lesson in the semi-finals of the WTT finals in Doha and clearly missed out on a place in the final of the tournament for the 16 best players of 2023.
The 27-year-old had no chance against vice world champion and last year’s winner Wang Chuqin from China and lost 0:4.
The world number 13. had big problems with his opponent’s powerful forehand and made a few backhand errors. The first round went to the Chinese 11:4. After that, Qiu got into the game better and was 2-0 ahead in the second set before the Chinese scored five times in a row and pulled away from 4-6 (5:11). With 0:3 in the third round there was a timeout, but again after 16 rallies the score was 5:11. The gap grew larger and after the DTTB player’s fourth and best round (8:11), the Chinese’s entry into the final was perfect.
Two world-class Chinese defeated
On Thursday (January 4th, 2024) Dang Qiu caused a sensation as the last remaining European in the individual competition. The Düsseldorfer won 3-2 in the quarterfinals against Liang Jingkun, fourth in the world rankings. He had previously defeated another world-class Chinese in his opening win against youth world champion Lin Shidong.
Praise from the national coach
Thanks to the successes in Doha, the individual European champion Qiu is about to return to the top 10 in the world rankings. National coach Jörg Roßkopf was also impressed: “I have rarely seen a player act as flawlessly as Wang Chuqin did today in all four sets. Dang played great at one of the most important tournaments, got rid of two Chinese players and drove Home in third place with a big chest. That gives him self-confidence for the coming weeks and months.”
On Sunday (January 7th) Qiu will continue at the DTTB Cup in Ulm and from next week at the WTT Star Contender in Doha.
The WTT finals are endowed with 340,000 US dollars (around 310,000 euros). Dimitrij Ovtcharov won bronze last season. Ovtcharov was the last German to win the tournament, which was then called the ITTF World Cup, in 2017.
