The German men’s table tennis national team lost the World Cup final against China and thus won silver.
A day after their semi-final victory against South Korea, Dang Qiu (Borussia Düsseldorf), Benedikt Duda (TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt) and Kay Stumper (Borussia Düsseldorf) had no chance in Chengdu on Sunday in a 0:3 against the host and top favorites of this team world championship.
The 28-year-old Duda lost in 0:3 sets against the world number one Fan Zhendong. Individual European champion Dang Qiu won at least the third set in a 1:3 draw against Olympic champion Ma Long. The 19-year-old world championship debutant Kay Stumper was no longer able to surprise (0:3) against mixed world champion Wang Chuqin.
China team world champions for the tenth time in a row
The Germans had already lost the Olympic final against the Chinese last year. However, the top players Timo Boll, Dimitrij Ovtcharov and Patrick Franziska, who played in Tokyo, did not take part in this World Cup.
China became team world champions for the tenth time in a row. In 2018, 2014, 2012 and 2010 the final opponent was Germany.
Boll and Ovtcharov praise the German team
Boll and Ovtcharov praised the German national team for winning the silver medal. “We can all be super proud of the boys. Of course, the final is amazing,” said record European champion Boll in a video message. But: “The Chinese were super strong again.”
Olympic bronze medalist Ovtcharov said: “Vice World Champion is a huge result. Everyone can be proud of themselves. We also showed how broadly based we are in Germany.” The result was a surprise for many, said the former world number one. “For someone like me, who sees the lads training every day, it was clear years ago that they had the potential to play big, but they rarely got a chance to show themselves.”