Bye, Timo - (Part 7 with Kristijan Pejinovic): “Timo will be a seal of quality for the TTBL for a long time to come”
Germany's top star Timo Boll has been on his announced farewell tour of the German Table Tennis League (TTBL) with Borussia Düsseldorf since the start of the season. Here, at regular intervals, important companions formulate their thoughts and memories of the most successful player in Bundesliga history and his incomparable career. In the seventh part of our series “Bye, Timo”, President Kristijan Pejinovic of TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen, who as a club official outside of Boll's clubs TTV Gönnern and Borussia Düsseldorf in the TTF management has followed the incomparable career of the former world number one for the longest time, looks back on times together.
“My memories of Timo and encounters with him go back to when I started working in Ochsenhausen - that was 23 years ago. Curiously, the experiences I had then are still very similar to those I have now.
Because just like in his long time with Borussia Düsseldorf, Timo was a tough opponent for us in the race for a play-off place or title with TTV Gönnern and coach Helmut Hampl. Back then, as well as later in many years with Düsseldorf, Timo annoyed us time and time again at the table and made us lose countless semi-finals and finals - in quotation marks.
Regardless of our sporting achievements, our encounters with Timo over the years have always been wonderful and great moments. He is a great athlete with a great sporting spirit, his game and his actions and reactions have always been characterized by the idea of fair play and respect for his opponent. I always found that just as pleasant as the fact that Timo always took the time to greet his opponents in a decent manner with genuine interest in them, despite his concentration on upcoming matches. These manners also show his often-mentioned down-to-earth attitude and characterize Timo.
Timo has made table tennis better
I see the end of Timo's great career with one laughing and one crying eye. On the one hand, I'm really pleased that he was obviously able to find the right moment to retire, but on the other hand, I naturally regret that an era has come to an irrevocable end: for table tennis in Germany, in Europe and even in China, where everything possible was done for a long time and indeed had to be done in order to have any chance at all against Timo.
Of course, at the time we would also have liked to win Timo for Ochsenhausen. My predecessor in office, Rainer Ihle, who has unfortunately already passed away, told me about his requests, but also that Timo always pointed out fairly and with respect for us that he would be happy and satisfied in Gönnern and later Düsseldorf, that it would simply be a good fit there. In the following years, we nevertheless signaled our interest again on a few occasions - but mainly for the one reason of paying respect to an exceptional athlete like him. Conversely, patrons back then and Düsseldorf - not only because of their successes inextricably linked to Timo - can still be proud today to have such a loyal player in their ranks.
In recent months, it has often been pointed out that Timo has contributed to the improvement of players in clubs and the national team. But Timo has also made table tennis better in Germany, in the Bundesliga, at European level and ultimately also in Asia. Timo has a lot to thank for everywhere, because the incentive and competition provided by Timo's strength gave rise to new competitions in many places to overcome inferiority - sporting competitions, of course, but also a strategic competition of ideas in which philosophies were developed as to how success could be achieved in the future despite Timo Boll on the other side.
His charisma drew attention to the TTBL
For the TTBL, as a member of the Supervisory Board, I can, no, must first of all state that Timo's retirement at the end of the season will leave a gap that cannot be filled. Without question, Timo was a figurehead who was the envy of leagues in other sports.
But the time after the Timo Boll era is also an opportunity for the league. Because without this dominant player personality in the opposing team, the prospects of success and titles for several clubs are significantly better. This can lead to an increase in quality for and in the TTBL, because now the chances of signing high-quality players have increased. I can well imagine more variety and more competition in the TTBL in the future.
The fact that so many top-class players are playing for clubs in the TTBL is already part of Timo's legacy. His charisma often drew serious attention from other professionals to the Bundesliga. Timo will be a seal of quality for the TTBL for a long time to come.
In a nutshell: From my point of view, Germany can be proud of such a super athlete and at the same time a fantastic person like Timo.”
Recorded by Florian Manzke