The German table tennis national player Dimitrij Ovtcharov will no longer play for his Russian club Fakel Orenburg for the time being.
“A few weeks ago I made the decision to leave Orenburg,” Ovtcharov said on Instagram. The war against Ukraine made him stunned and very sad. Ovtcharov had not played for the club since his ankle surgery in October.
He won the Champions League four times with Fakel Orenburg, which is sponsored by the Russian energy company Gazprom. The club has become his sporting home and has given him a lot of support in his development. “It’s actually not the sport’s fault, but I can’t just keep playing table tennis there!” Ovtscharov wrote.
He himself was born in Kyiv, his family moved to Germany shortly afterwards. His father was a Soviet table tennis champion and national player.