The supposedly second German table tennis series only knew such World Cup moments from the stands: Benedikt Duda stood at the table with his arms raised wide. And his two team-mates ran towards him from the bench, cheering.
Even without the top players Timo Boll and Dimitrij Ovtcharov, the German national team has secured its place in the semi-finals at the World Team Championships in China and thus at least the bronze medal. And just like the German women against Hong Kong the day before, she won her quarter-final against France 3-2 after being down 0-2. The semi-final opponent is South Korea on Saturday.
Roßkopf: "It's amazing that we have a medal"
"Germany should never be underestimated - it doesn't matter which team we come with," said individual European champion Dang Qiu. "In such a strong table tennis nation and with such a great table tennis history, you naturally have several good players. We got our chance here - and showed that we can do it too!"
The last time both German teams won a World Cup medal was in Moscow in 2010 and before that in Manchester in 1997. However, the fact that Dang Qiu (Borussia Düsseldorf), Benedikt Duda (TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt) and the only 19-year-old World Cup debutant Kay Stumper (Borussia Düsseldorf) come as far as record European champion Boll, Olympic bronze medalist Ovtcharov (both Training deficit) and Patrick Franziska, who has just become a father for the first time, did otherwise reliably, is a surprise.
"It's crazy that we already have a medal," said national coach Jörg Roßkopf. "South Korea are of course very difficult opponents, they play really well here."
The 19 and 16-year-old brothers Alexis and Felix Lebrun initially gave his team a hard time against France. Alexis beat Duda 3-2 after falling 0-2 sets down. After that, even European champion Dang had no chance against "the little one" (Roßkopf via Felix Lebrun) (1:3). The turnaround was initiated by the German top talent Stumper, who was still undefeated at his first World Cup, against Jules Rolland (3:1). After that, Dang and Duda also defeated the two Lebrun brothers - this time only in the opposite constellation.
Boll, Ovtcharov and Franziska send greetings
"It's sport," said 28-year-old Duda. "It was a tough defeat at the start and I was angry with myself. But I knew: We'll come back and I'll get our fifth match. Nobody likes to play when the score is 2-2. But I knew: The momentum is on ours side, the French are a bit bruised. The ending was amazing."
The course of this World Cup reflects the development in international table tennis. Many teams are repositioning themselves for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. Especially in Europe, young players like Dang Qiu with his European title, the Swede Truls Möregardh with second place at the individual world championships or the Lebrun brothers cause a stir. Also in the semi-final opponent South Korea, four of the five players are not older than 24 years. Only the hosts and top favorites China still have the individual world champion Fan Zhendong and the individual Olympic champion Ma Long at the table.
Their German rivals Boll, Ovtcharov and Franziska flew to China on Thursday evening to collect world ranking points for the Olympic qualification at several WTT tournaments. They wouldn't have managed to play a World Cup before these tournaments. In return, they sent greetings to Duda, Dang and Co. on social networks. They could hardly have done better at this World Cup.
