Düsseldorf's young star Kay Stumper: "World Championship silver makes a difference mentally".
Kay Stumper has been one of the most eye-catching players in the German Table Tennis League (TTBL) since the start of the season. After his flawless and surprisingly confident debut with champions Borussia Düsseldorf, the 19-year-old impressed once again at the World Team Championships in China and played an important role in the silver medal for the German team. In an interview, Stumper describes the significance of the success - also for the future.
Kay Stumper, only a little time has passed since your silver medal with the German national team at the World Team Championships in Chengdu. Have you already been able to realize this great success, can you already grasp it?
It's getting more and more every day. We didn't have that much time for the return trip, but I already have the feeling that this success can be realized better every day that I'm back in Düsseldorf.
What does winning silver at the World Championships mean in concrete terms in your case?
It's something very big for me, after winning the European Championship title with the team last year, to have now also managed to become runner-up in the World Championships with the team. That means a lot to me, because at 19 years old I'm only just starting out.
Before the World Cup tournament, there was some skepticism about being nominated without three top players. How did you deal with that as a team?
That didn't play any role at all for us. We were the five players nominated and didn't worry about it. There was no negative mood or doubt. We told ourselves that we wanted to do our thing and had a lot of confidence in ourselves because we know what we can do.
What were the decisive factors for this great success?
Quite simply a very good preparation, which we really had. We were also in a rhythm due to the TTBL matches, but we also understand each other very well and harmonize very well. That has also been a key to success, especially since we have also gained more self-confidence with every victory.
Despite your World Cup debut, you didn't show any signs of nervousness right from the start. Are you that cool or did you just play it off well?
Of course I was nervous, there was a certain amount of pressure right before my first game. But I'm generally not that susceptible to pressure situations and was able to handle it quite well.
That sounds very mature for a 19-year-old...
It's always been like that, even when I was eleven and won three games in a row in the seventh set 12:10 at a U15 championship. I can handle situations like that pretty well.
Timo Boll, Dimitrij Ovtcharov and Patrick Franziska are still regarded as figureheads, and yet the World Cup silver medal for this much rejuvenated national team has increased public speculation about a generational change. How do you see that?
It's hard to say because it almost depends more on the others than on us. Timo, 'Dima' and 'Franz' continue to play at an incredibly high level, of course, but they're not actually getting any younger. From my point of view, the World Cup wasn't directly the beginning of a generation change, but it was very good that we played, because sooner or later we'll certainly have to play again when the older players have stopped. That's why it was better sooner than later that we got the opportunity to do so well at the World Cup.
Experts said after the World Cup final that this tournament will give you, of all people, several years' head start. Do you feel the same way about the value of the World Cup for your personal development?
Yes, having such a big success as silver at such a big and important tournament makes a big difference mentally for the future, so you can benefit a lot from it at later tournaments.
How much did you benefit in Chengdu from your strong debut with Borussia Düsseldorf?
Very much, of course. I took a lot of self-confidence with me to the World Cup as a result, but I think the good training in Düsseldorf helped me even more than the good start to the season.
You can hardly spend any time enjoying your World Championship success because of the competition calendar. Next on the agenda is the WTT tournament in Slovenia. How do you switch back into everyday mode?
I'm taking a short break, but I feel ready for it. But it's also no problem for me the other way around to adjust from the league to a highlight like the World Championships.
After returning from Slovenia, the TTBL will soon be back on the agenda. Thanks in part to your performance, Düsseldorf is at the top of the table with a clean slate. Will Borussia march through to the final again?
The season is still incredibly long, it's just started. But even though it's started well, it's clear that we won't continue to win every game 3-0. But of course we want to be as high up as possible at the end.