Germany’s table tennis women secured the long-awaited medal at the Team World Championships in Chengdu after a grandiose race to catch up against Hong Kong.
Han Ying, Nina Mittelham and Shan Xiaona won a more than three-hour table tennis thriller against Hong Kong 3-2 on Thursday night (October 6th, 2022) at the repeat of the bronze match of the Olympic Games in Tokyo. The trio had their backs to the wall in the quarter-finals with a score of 0:2 before starting a great race to catch up. The women have now secured their third team medal at a World Cup after 1997 and 2010, as third place is not played out.
Han narrowly loses, Mittelham too flawed
The start was initially unsuccessful: Han lost in the first game against Wai Yam Minnie Soo 1:3 (11:7, 1:11, 9:11, 14:16). Although she won the first set 11:7 after a strong start, the second and third sets did not go according to plan: The German lost the thread against Soo, who was now playing strongly, and only came back up at 3:10 in the third round. The fourth round turned into a thriller: Soo secured Hong Kong’s important 1-0 lead with the fourth match point.
In the game that followed, Vice European Champion Mittelham stepped into the box. The 25-year-old was trailing behind in the 1: 3 (3:11, 5:11, 15:13, 5:11) against Chengzhu Chu and didn’t find her way into the game at all. A brief flicker of hope was quickly ended by Zhu in the fourth round.
Xiaona and Han bring back DTTB
After the defeat, Germany’s hopes were pinned on Shan Xiaona. The 39-year-old kept the DTTB team in the game with her 3:1 (13:11, 5:11, 13:11, 16:14) against Ho Ching Lee. Xiaona, who usually acts with the forehand as a penholder player, showed a spirited performance from the start. A game developed at eye level with the happier end for Germany.
This allowed Han to fight for the equalizer in the duel between the two women who were placed first against Zhu. The eighth in the world rankings played well and equalized with a smooth 3:0 (11:6, 11:3, 11:8). In contrast to the first game, the defender remained dominant this time after the 1-0 set lead and surprisingly often attacked herself. Chu found little to counteract this.
DTTB women crown comeback
Thanks to Hans’ victory, Germany was suddenly back again: the Mittelham vs. Soo game had to bring the decision. The world number 14. looked transformed compared to her first single, her opponent Soo also played well. In the high-class game, one world-class rally followed the next. With great cheers from her teammates, the German converted her first match point at 3:1 (9:11, 13:11, 11:5, 11:5). In the semifinals, the DTTB team now meets either Slovakia or Japan.