The German national table tennis team will have to do without Timo Boll at least in the first game on Friday (February 16) against the USA at the World Team Championships in South Korea. The record European champion from Borussia Düsseldorf suffers from inflammation of the iris in his right eye.
Timo Boll is currently still being treated in Germany. “We hope that he can still fly. We’ll see what comes out of the doctor’s visit tomorrow,” said German sports director Richard Prause on Thursday.
Opening against USA
The first German World Cup game in Busan against the USA starts on Friday (February 16th) at 9:00 a.m. German time. The other opponents in the preliminary round are Saudi Arabia, Kazakhstan and England.
The tournament ends on February 25th. Former world number one Boll had said in advance that Busan could well be his last World Cup.
Boll, who recently won the WTT tournament in Doha, wanted to earn a ticket to the Olympics in Paris through good performances at the World Cup. It would be Boll’s seventh summer games.
Ovtcharov also arrives late
Former world number one Dimitrij Ovtcharov is also traveling to South Korea a day late because his hand luggage with his laptop, wallet, passport and table tennis rackets was stolen on the way to the airport.