The German table tennis women also won their third group game at the World Team Championships in Chengdu/China and are undefeated in the round of 16. The team led by Vice European Champion Nina Mittelham confidently defeated the Czech Republic 3-0 on Monday.
“We wanted to finish first in the group, we did that. We’re very happy about that,” said Mittelham: “No game was easy. We made it through the first stage, now we’ll see what’s next. We’ll be free tomorrow and can recover.” The opponent in the round of 16 will be drawn.
The German men, on the other hand, were accustomed to success after a successful 3-0 start against Kazakhstan on Sunday and stumbled 3-1 against Commonwealth champions India. In the third of four group games, individual European champion Dang Qiu from Düsseldorf will face France on Monday. Last opponent is outsider Uzbekistan. Only the two best teams in each preliminary round group advance directly to the round of 16, plus the two best third-placed teams.
Due to injury, the German Table Tennis Association (DTTB) will not be able to play in China for long-time guarantors of success, Timo Boll and Dimitrij Ovtcharov, as well as young father Patrick Franziska. The trio had won Olympic silver in the team in 2021.