The German table tennis teams celebrated their second group victory at the World Cup in South Korea. The men won against Saudi Arabia, the women against Mexico.
The German men won 3-0 against outsiders Saudi Arabia one day after their opening win against the USA. Dang Qiu (Borussia Düsseldorf), Dimitrij Ovtcharov (TTC Neu-Ulm) and Benedikt Duda (TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt) took the next step towards Olympic qualification.
After losing the European Championship final against Sweden last year, World Cup and Olympic runner-up Germany is not yet sure of qualification for the Summer Games in Paris. To do this he has to reach the quarter-finals at the current World Championships.
The winners of the eight preliminary round groups advance directly to the round of 16 in Busan. The second and third placed teams in each group of five play the other round of 16 participants in an extra round. The Germans’ toughest competitor for group victory is England.
Women with a clean win against Mexico
The German women, who have already qualified for Paris, have now also won their second group game after their opening win against Poland. Nina Mittelham, Xiaona Shan (both TTC Berlin Eastside) and 17-year-old Annett Kaufmann (SV Böblingen) won 3-0 against Mexico in Busan on Saturday. The next opponent is Nigeria on Sunday.