The German women’s national table tennis team has reached the semi-finals of a European team championship for the 18th time. The eight-time European champions demonstrated their class against Italy in a 3-0 win. The next opponent on Saturday (September 16th, 2023) will be determined between the hosts from Sweden and Portugal.
Tenth in the world rankings Ying Han gave the German team the lead against Italy in Malmö. The 40-year-old from Polish club KTS Tarnobrzeg had missed the previous day’s equally clear 3-0 win against Ukraine due to muscular problems. Nina Mittelham and Xiaona Shan (both TTC Berlin Eastside) scored the other two points.
Will Germany win the title again?
Defending champions Germany and Romania are the two big favorites for this tournament. The German team won the 2021 European Championship final. The Romanians prevailed at the final of the European Games in Krakow in July. Only the new team European champions will qualify directly for the team competition at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.