Dang Qiu (Borussia Düsseldorf): "You have to perform the whole year".
European champion Dang Qiu and defending champion Borussia Düsseldorf are the early winners of the main round in the German Table Tennis League (TTBL). In an interview, the German top player talks about the reasons for his team's good performance, his personal experiences in the course of the season so far and his goals at the upcoming NDM in Nuremberg.
Dang Qiu, Borussia Düsseldorf and you are already the early winners of the main round in the Table Tennis Bundesliga after the 3:1 home victory. What is your club's record for the TTBL main round?
Winning the main round is never an easy act. After all, the season is very long with many matches. In the end, however, consistency wins out. Super form with victories on several weekends in a row or in one or two months is not enough - you have to perform throughout the year. We got off to an unbelievably good start, but things looked a little different in the second half of the season because we were sometimes a little weaker due to injuries. But that's also part of a long season, you have to compensate for that, and for the most part we succeeded, because we won the games we had to win to finish first. That's a good sign and gives us a tailwind for the playoffs.
Before the start of the season, did you expect your team to march so confidently away from the front for so long?
You always expect resistance, because individually, any other team can be dangerous to us. With our good start, a lot of things just fell into place. We were in great shape, played very well and won practically all the close games. It doesn't happen that often that everything comes together like that, but that's how we were able to build up a gigantic buffer and use it to our advantage in the end.
In the last two rounds of the regular season, Post SV Mühlhausen and your former club ASV Grünwettersbach will play for fourth place and thus for a place in the semifinals against your team. Do your teammates and you have a preferred opponent?
No, absolutely not. That's up to the two teams to decide between themselves. Wishing for opponents is always very dangerous - it can quickly backfire.
You currently have 13:2 victories in the TTBL. How would you sum up your personal record ahead of the play-off round?
Of course my record so far is positive, I can live with that very well and I'm very satisfied. For the second time in a row, I've hardly lost any games in a season, and for me that's a nice sign that I'm one of the best players in the league as a result and have been able to present myself so well two years in a row.
The current season was also the first year after you won the 2022 European Championship title in Munich. Compared to the previous season, have you noticed the often-described effect that opponents come to the table particularly motivated against the holder of an important title?
Yes, I can definitely confirm that. But first of all it was nice that the spectators at our away matches were also happy that I was playing. At the table, every opponent really wants to win against the European Champion and has nothing to lose against me, so I have to find my feet in that position. After all, titles automatically bring pressure and expectations, and I'm very happy that I've been able to withstand the pressure so far.
Did you deal with this particular form of pressure before the season after your European Championship coup?
I'm aware that it's part of an ongoing process that all top players go through. You want to play for the big titles and win them, and when it happens, you're already prepared for having to deal with other people's expectations and demands.
The NDM is already on the agenda for you on the last weekend in March in Nuremberg. How do you look forward to "Operation Title Defense" after your international successes?
The NDM are still a nice tournament for me with many strong players who are close together. A lot can always happen in the many matches in a short period of time, especially since my personal preparation has not been ideal due to the important tournaments in the past weeks. But I will definitely be hot.
After the Grand Smash, national coach Jörg Roßkopf complained about the scheduling situation in table tennis. In the past, players like you, who are in great demand internationally, have taken a break during an NDM. Has that been an issue for you?
No, I have never cancelled for the NDM, the tournament really has a high value for me. A cancellation was out of the question for me this year, if only because Benedikt Duda and I can overtake the former World Champions Jörg Roßkopf and Steffen Fetzner and set a record with our sixth doubles title in a row. I would very much like to achieve that.
What do you think of Roßkopf's demand for more time off for training?
You have to have training blocks in order to improve. You can certainly achieve good results under the current circumstances, but in the long run you fall behind a bit because you only maintain the level and don't get better, don't improve. The question of giving up will certainly arise over time at one tournament or another, but the decision should then always depend on the specific situation.