"From very pissed to very happy": Fanbo Meng goes to the World Cup for the first time

Last Monday, the German Table Tennis Federation (DTTB) announced the good news for Fanbo Meng: The 21-year-old will travel for the first time to the World Championships, which will be held from September 30 to October 9 in Chengdu, China. We spoke to Meng about the nomination, the chances of the German team and the start of the season with TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell in the German Table Tennis League (TTBL).

Fanbo Meng, first of all, congratulations on your first nomination for the World Cup! Where were you and what were you doing when you got the news?

I was at the airport in Muscat, Oman - and, to be honest, I just had anger in me because I had lost in the first main round of the WTT tournament in the afternoon. I spoke to Rossi [national coach Jörg Roßkopf] on the phone, and suddenly he said that I would be going to the World Championships. Of course, my mood changed in one blow, from very pissed off to very happy.

What was the first thought that popped into your head?

If I'm honest: There were rumors beforehand that Timo Boll, Dimitrij Ovtcharov and Patrick Franziska would not be competing and that it might work out for me. Of course, you always dream, but I didn't expect too much - simply so that I wouldn't be disappointed in the end. After all, there are many great players who would also have deserved it. When the news came, I was simply delighted.

How do you see the team positioned without the top players Boll, Ovtcharov and Franziska?

Of course, the three are absolutely exceptional players who can't be replaced just like that. But even without them, we have a strong team led by two great players in Dang Qiu and Benedikt Duda. Overall, I would say that we have a young team that nevertheless already has a lot of experience. Dang is the reigning European singles champion, Bene and Dang were European team champions last year, and Ricardo Walther was the German singles champion in 2020. If everything goes right and the draw means well for us, then we can play a good role.

And what role will you play in the team?

Of course, I see myself more as the number four or five in the team. But that's not so important. I'm looking forward to the tournament and want to learn a lot there. Being part of it is a great opportunity and will be a great experience that will help me in my development. And maybe I'll even get a call-up, perhaps against one of the presumably weaker opponents or if one of the guys needs a break.

You've already mentioned Dang Qiu: He's 25 years old and has developed tremendously over the past two or three years, becoming European champion, German champion several times over, and in the top 10 of the world rankings. You yourself are 21 years old. Can Dang's development serve as a role model for your own development?

I always cite Jan-Ove Waldner as a role model - partly because he himself once played in Fulda. But Dang's development is simply phenomenal, of course. And I don't think anyone predicted a few years ago that he would become so strong so quickly. I have a lot of respect for his development. But every player is different, and the German Table Tennis Center in Düsseldorf is full of world-class players from whom I try to learn something every day.

You have already beaten many of these world-class players in the recent past, such as Timo Boll or the doubles world champion Mattias Falck. What's still missing from your game at the moment to ensure regular victories in the German Table Tennis League (TTBL)?

Continuity, consistency. Of course, I was very happy about these victories. And I believe that I can play really good table tennis at times. But what I still need is to show this performance regularly and to be able to call it up on the dot. If I get off to a good start in a match, anything is possible. But if I don't get off to a good start, I sometimes get really beaten up by the top players. I'm working hard to get more consistency in my game and to develop further.

With TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell, you started the TTBL season with 2:4 points. Two points too less, right?

6:0 would be even better, of course. But seriously, the league has never been as strong as it is at the moment. Every match is incredibly difficult. Saarbrücken was simply too strong. But the defeat against Ochsenhausen was too clear. Of course you can lose, but in this game we fell short of our own expectations. However, you also have to remember that Alexandre Cassin injured his hand. Otherwise he might have won against Alvaro Robles, and then things could have been very different. But that's the way it is in sports.

On Monday evening, the TTC takes on SV Werder Bremen, who have started with 4:2 points. How do you rate the chances of a second win this season?

Almost all the teams in the league are on a par, all of them are super strong. That also applies to Bremen: With Mattias Falck and Kirill Gerassimenko they have two exceptional players, and with Cristian Pletea they added a good doubles player in the summer. But we are also in a great position. That's why I can't make any predictions about how the match will turn out on Monday. I think it's going to be an open and typical 50-50 game in which small things will make the difference in the end.