More Olympic places for TTBL stars
In the German Table Tennis League (TTBL), even more foreign stars than before are likely to be able to look forward to a ticket for the Olympic Games in Paris. Thanks to the last-minute qualification of Slovenia, Croatia and India as the final participants in the men's team tournament at the Summer Games, up to five more TTBL professionals are likely to have already secured their ticket to France.
The Slovenian Europe Top 16 Cup winner Darko Jorgic from Champions League winner 1. FC Saarbrücken-TT is expected to serve in both the team competition and the individual tournament in Paris. The same could apply to his compatriot Deni Kozul from former cup winners ASV Grünwettersbach.
Indian veteran Sharath Kamal Achanta from champions Borussia Düsseldorf can also hope for an additional nomination as his country's second singles player. His national team colleague Manush Utpalbhai Shah (TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt), on the other hand, may have to worry about his place in the three-man Paris squad. In contrast to Shah, Filip Zeljko (TSV Bad Königshofen) should have practically secured his place as number three in Croatia's trio.
Following the publication of the first March world rankings, the participants in the two team competitions for the Olympic tournaments have been determined. Slovenia, Croatia and Olympic debutants India were awarded the last three places in Paris via the rankings after losing in the round of 16 at the World Cup in South Korea, while the other participants, with the exception of hosts France, qualified for the Olympics in tournaments.
All teams - including the two German teams - automatically have the maximum of two starting places in the individual competitions, which have not yet been allocated by name. However, the two soloists must also be part of their country's team of three. The other players for the individual tournaments will be determined until June, mostly via other continental tournaments or the world rankings.
Even before Jorgic and Co., several top players from the TTBL felt they were seeded for the Olympics. The Brazilian top 10 star Hugo Calderano (TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen) will certainly be playing in both competitions. In Sweden's European champion team, Anton Källberg (Düsseldorf) and the former World Championship runner-up Mattias Falck also have good cards for Paris.
For the German team, European champion Dang Qiu, former world number one Timo Boll (both Düsseldorf) and doubles World Championship bronze medallist Patrick Franziska (Saarbrücken) will be considered for the Olympics. Benedikt Duda (Bergneustadt) can only count himself as an outsider.
Source: SID
Featured image above: Tischtennis Bundesliga (TTBL)