Dang Qiu, Benjamin Duda and Patrick Franziska are the first Germans to reach the round of 16 of the European Table Tennis Championships in Munich. Two still pick up a bat today.
Qiu and Duda had to play in the first games of the day on Friday morning in the Rudi-Sedlmayer-Halle. The Düsseldorf Qiu made short work of the Greek Ioannis Sgouropoulos in the 4:0 (11:8, 11:9, 11:4, 11:5). After many close matches, Qui said before: “I’m glad that I had an easier game, at least in terms of the result.” Duda from Bergneustadt defeated Austrian Daniel Habesohn 4:3 (11:4, 11:13, 11:8, 11:9, 9:11, 6:11, 11:7). When he gambled away a 3-1 lead, he was “upset, but then I was glad that my opponent quickly took a time-out.”
Now they meet face to face. In doubles, both played as a duo and were eliminated in the quarter-finals. The EM third in 2018, Patrick Franziska, defeated the Pole after start-up problems Jakub Dyjas 4: 1 (6:11, 11:7, 11:8, 11:9, 11:9). Dimitrij Ovtcharov and Timo Boll are still active today.