The first step has been taken. Even without three top players, defending champion Germany is in the round of 16 of the European Table Tennis Team Championships. Timo Boll had an eventful evening against Poland.
After the German women, the men’s table tennis national team has also reached the round of 16 of the European Team Championships.
Timo Boll (Borussia Düsseldorf), Benedikt Duda (TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt) and Ricardo Walther (ASV Grünwettersbach) secured first place in preliminary group A with a 3-1 win against Poland in Malmö.
Record European champion Boll lost his first singles match against 17-year-old Milosz Redzimski in 1:3 sets. However, the 42-year-old then improved and scored the third point for the German team against Samuel Kulczycki (3-1).
The knockout rounds of the European Team Championships begin on Thursday. The European champion qualifies for the team competition at the 2024 Olympic Games. The eight quarter-finalists and four further round of 16 will take part in the Team World Championships in February 2024 in South Korea.
The German men recently won the European Championship title three times in a row. However, the three top players Dang Qiu, Dimitrij Ovtcharov and Patrick Franziska are missing from this tournament.