Table tennis star Dimitrij Ovtcharov narrowly missed out on winning the WTT competition in Lima on his comeback after an eight-month injury break.
The Olympic bronze medalist and former world number one lost the final against his German national team colleague Dang Qiu (Borussia Düsseldorf) in 3:4 sets. The women’s European team champion Nina Mittelham (TTC Berlin Eastside) also won the final against Miyu Nagasaki from Japan 4:3.
For 25-year-old Dang and 25-year-old Mittelham, it was their first successes in the new tournament series World Table Tennis (WTT). The world number 14. had previously lost the finals in Doha and Tunis. Ovtcharov won the first two sets against the newly promoted German team and also had two set points in the third round when the score was 10:8.
Ovtcharov: “My father persuaded me”
Despite this, the 33-year-old was very happy with his return from two ankle surgeries in October and February. “My father persuaded me to start in Lima,” said Ovtcharov. “Because I never would have thought that after seven months without any sport and only a few weeks of training, I would already be competitive.”