Although it is only the second most important table tennis tournament of the year, it is an extremely groundbreaking one for the German men’s team. It’s about the world championship title, it’s about qualifying for the games in Paris and it’s about everyone in the team trying to get their personal ticket to the Olympics.
You really had to wait a long time for this event, the organizers of the Table Tennis Team World Championships in Busan. Almost four years, to be exact. The title fights in South Korea’s second largest metropolis were actually supposed to have taken place in March 2020. But then Corona intervened.
Busan is looking forward to the World Cup
There are always postponements and at some point the final cancellation. This week, however, the South Koreans’ wishes are finally becoming reality. Although the country has long been one of the world’s top table tennis players, there has never been a tournament like this before. This team world championship is one of the big highlights of the season for the successful German men’s team.
“We are the second best nation in the world and our goal is to beat the best nation,” national coach Jörg Roßkopf sets a clear direction. Table tennis world power China has long presented itself as an overpowering opponent. Nine team world championship titles in a row since 2001 speak for themselves. However, Jörg Roßkopf’s team secured the silver medal at five of the last six World Championships.
Quarterfinals as a mandatory goal for Olympic qualification
For them, the first obligatory goal in South Korea is to reach the quarter-finals. Because the German men, unlike the German women’s team, are not competing in Busan as the current European champions, they are not yet officially assured of Olympic qualification.
Group opponents in the preliminary round on the way there are the USA, Saudi Arabia, Kazakhstan and England. Roßkopf will probably help each of his five players to play. Included are individual European champion Dang Qiu, former world number one Dimtrij Ovtcharov, Patrick Franziska, Benedikt Duda and Timo Boll.
“It’s very important for us that Timo Boll is back. That significantly increases the respect of our opponents,” His long-time teammate Ovtcharov is extremely happy about the return of the veteran.
Timo Boll’s return as a success factor
Boll, now 42, has perhaps had the most difficult phase of his long career. In 2023, he was unable to pick up a bat for more than six months due to a persistent shoulder injury. “From the outside the shoulder looked great, but I couldn’t sleep for a long time because of the pain. Even normal everyday movements didn’t work. It was just frustrating,” the record European champion describes his time of suffering.
Finding the cause and the recovery process had an uncertain outcome for a long time. “Probably no one would have complained if I had said that was it at 41 or 42.” An end to his career was certainly on the cards for him last year, even after Boll’s cautious return to competition.
“When Timo was fit again, this time, for the first time for him, things didn’t work out. His results really frustrated him,” his friend Ovtcharov witnessed the whole thing first hand. The former world number one, who has since slipped in the world rankings to 182nd place. It wasn’t until the turn of the year that the big turning point came for Timo Boll: a decisive victory in the German Cup triumph of his club Borussia Düsseldorf, and a little later he won the WTT Contender tournament in Doha.
There the German beat absolute world-class opponents several times. “As a 42-year-old, you can’t play much better with my body. But even though I’ve played two or three good games now, I have to show at the World Cup that it can continue like this.”
Olympic nomination
With Boll’s return to success, the internal competition in the German men’s team has also been reignited. Only three players will be on the official Olympic team for the Paris Games this summer. Another person can travel with you as a substitute.
“We will decide on the first two places in the team by the end of March. We will give away the remaining two tickets later.”, national coach Roßkopf outlines the nomination schedule. Dang Qiu and Dimitrij Ovtcharov, who are ranked eleventh and twelfth in the world rankings, probably have the best cards for the first two places. There could be a close fight between the two very good friends Timo Boll and Patrick Franziska for third place in the German Olympic team.
“I also have to prove to myself that this really makes sense. Because with an ailing body, I don’t want to take away anyone’s place in Paris,” Timo Boll sets himself high standards on the way to the Olympics. The Olympic Games in Paris would be his seventh, meaning he would be assured of an outstanding position in German Olympic history.
Who can ultimately secure a place in the German Olympic team? The World Cup in Busan is probably more than just a yardstick for deciding on this issue. And so the second most important tournament of the year may become the most important for some in the German team.