The upcoming Table Tennis Team World Championships in Chengdu will be a special tournament for Dang Qiu. He is supposed to lead the DTTB men and goes into the family past to do so.
These are special weeks for the Düsseldorf table tennis player Dang Qiu. Just under four weeks ago he became individual European champion, now he should lead the German team at the Team World Championships in Chengdu, China, which starts on Friday (September 30th, 2022).
In between there were a few congratulations as well as the start of the Bundesliga and the first game in the Cup and Champions League. “The schedule is already very full, for years we have been traveling from game to game and tournament to tournament. That requires good time management.”Qiu said in an interview with the sports show.
Qiu new leader
The other three top 15 players are missing from the German World Cup squad, perhaps also because of the excessive appointments. For the first time in many years, neither Timo Boll, Dimitrij Ovtcharov nor Patrick Franziska are there. These three have long formed the spearhead of the successful DTTB men. Qiu has long since penetrated this phalanx and has even overtaken his colleagues with ninth place in the world rankings.
Now he has been given more responsibility by national coach Jörg Roßkopf – in addition to 28-year-old Benedikt Duda, he is to lead the young German team around the up-and-coming talents Fanbo Meng and Kay Stumper. “We’re not changing generations, we’re just making the younger ones responsible.”explained Roßkopf before the tournament.
Parents earlier for China’s national team
For the 25-year-old, there is also a personal touch to the World Cup. Because his parents still competed for the national teams from the Middle Kingdom and come from far away China – just like many other family members. “I still used to visit relatives from time to time until the pandemic, if time allows. It’s very special for me to play there.”said the Düsseldorfer.
Dang Qiu’s father Qiu Jianxin
In addition, China is of course the table tennis nation par excellence. “Every one of us is a little star there, the halls are better filled, everyone is more enthusiastic”, according to the European Championship title holder. As a child, he already hype in China and his parents benefited. “However, it wasn’t easy to gain some distance from the small white ball.”, he added. Now he wants to show his Chinese compatriots what he can do now.
Young German men’s team just outsiders
In terms of sport, Germany is not the big medal candidate for men, despite Qiu’s rise, but suddenly something like the unknown outsider. The preliminary round group with France as the toughest opponent is absolutely doable even for the young team. It kicks off on Friday at 7am CET against Kazakhstan. How far it goes after the group stage is questionable. “It’s hard to set a goal because it’s all our first time participating in a World Team Championship”Qiu explained.
Poor performance would not have a major impact on the overarching goal, the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. Because for the first time there are no individual world ranking points that are decisive for setting a team event – probably another reason to rest Boll and Ovtcharov, who were injured for a long time in the spring, and to give Franziska his father’s break.
Tournament in the Corona bubble
But the World Cup will not only be special because of the newly formed team and Qiu’s personal connection – the conditions in China will also be very different than about four weeks ago at the European Championships in Munich. Because in Chengdu there are still considerable corona restrictions in some parts of the city. Up until the week before the World Cup, the city was even complete lockdown.
The number one table tennis country has so far been following a zero-Covid strategy and is therefore setting up a bubble for the World Cup: players and media representatives are only allowed to stay in the hotel and hall. According to Qiu, it is no coincidence that the World Team Championships are the first major sporting event to take place since the Winter Games last February: “China is the table tennis country par excellence. You will have thought about it carefully.” And it shows the appreciation for popular sport in the Middle Kingdom.
Paris is Qiu’s big goal
Whether doing well or badly at the World Cup: Qiu is already looking ahead to the coming years. “The world rankings don’t matter at the moment, but I want to keep developing. And of course I want to be at the Olympics for the first time in Paris.” If possible again as a leader.