National coach Jörg Roßkopf and the German association president Claudia Herweg drew a mixed conclusion from the Table Tennis World Championships in South Africa. “Europe generally has to work to ensure that there aren’t too many Asians on the top of the podium,” said Roßkopf.
China won all five world titles in singles, doubles and mixed in Durban. The German team won a bronze medal in doubles with Dimitrij Ovtcharov and Patrick Franziska. In singles, Dang Qiu only made it to the round of 16 and Ying Han in the women’s quarterfinals.
“Germany has now won a medal at the Individual World Championships for the fourth time in a row and has felt great success at every major event since 1989,” said Rosskopf.
Nevertheless, one “hoped for more in the result-oriented analysis. A World Cup match analysis is good and important, but what is decisive is what happens in the training hall. We were unable to do enough due to the players’ overloaded schedules.”
DTTB President Herweg also said at the end of the World Championships: “It’s positive that we won a medal in the men’s category, and even with the unexpected doubles. If you want to rate the performance negatively, we have a bit of homework in the men’s area close.”