Olympic Games: German men's team in the quarter-finals after a commanding 3:0 win over Canada
Germany's men's team with Dimitrij Ovtcharov, Dang Qiu, Timo Boll and supplementary player Patrick Franziska started the Olympic team competition with a commanding 3:0 victory over Canada. The quarter-finals on Tuesday evening in the South Paris Arena 4 will be a rematch of the European Championship final against European team champions Sweden, who beat Denmark 3-0 in the round of 16.
Boll's Paris debut: "It felt better and better as it went on"
As expected, all eyes were on Timo Boll in the South Paris Arena 4, which was once again packed with 6,400 spectators. The 43-year-old former world number one proved his good Olympic form with a 3-0 win over Canada in both the opening doubles and the second singles. Boll, who ends his international career at the Olympic Games in Paris, didn't give Eugene Wang, who is ranked 106th in the world, any chance at all despite fending off a set point in the third set and converted his first match point to win his own and the match. The record European champion, who had only just arrived in Paris for the team tournament, gained important match practice in the main hall, where the two-time World Cup winner had not yet been able to train since his arrival in Paris a few days ago, by winning 11:8, 11:5 and 12:10 ahead of the important quarter-final duel with Sweden.
Timo Boll saw an improvement in his game from set to set: "The first few serves were a bit cramped, but that has settled down to some extent. I'm quite satisfied. I didn't expect to shine here straight away, hitting three balls behind my back and the handswitch straight onto the table. I first have to work the balls onto the table, move well and stand low. The basics have to be right first and luckily they were enough here." Germany's best player of all time didn't feel nervous in the South Paris Arena: "I wasn't actually particularly nervous, but the sensitivity wasn't there yet. You can tell from that that you do have a bit of tension. Fortunately, I got to grips with it. It was also important that I played a singles match afterwards. I'm grateful to the coaches for setting me up like that. I need the match practice and it felt better and better as the match went on."
National coach Jörg Roßkopf was delighted with Boll's successful tournament debut: "Timo played a good game today and had a good touch straight away. That's not a matter of course. Eugene Wang is not a bad player and has a lot of experience. But Timo also knows that he has to play even better tomorrow."
Doubles Boll/Qiu take a comfortable 1:0 lead
In the doubles, which is played at the start of every team match in the Olympic system, the combination of Dang Qiu/Timo Boll, set up by national coach Jörg Roßkopf, needed a little time to find their rhythm against the experienced Eugene Wang and Jeremy Hazin. However, despite losing the second set, the opening doubles match was never in danger. The third and fourth sets were won 11:8 and 11:5 by the two Düsseldorfers. As in the singles, the record European champion Timo Boll, who had only just arrived for the team tournament in Paris, hardly made any easy mistakes in the doubles. Dang Qiu said after the doubles success: "In the doubles, we take each match as it comes to get practice and get into the swing of things. Timo and I have done a lot of sessions together. We use every rally, regardless of whether our opponents are Ma Long/Wang Chuqin or the Canadians." Timo Boll joked after the doubles: "We practiced a lot of doubles, also against the Swedes. It was a bit of rumble table tennis in the doubles today. We definitely have to step up our game. No matter who we play: Today's performance will definitely not be enough. We have to improve and that's what we're doing."
Dimitrij Ovtcharov: "We deserved to win"
In between, Germany's Mr. Olympia Dimitrij Ovtcharov had given his team a 2:0 lead. The six-time Olympic medallist, who was unlucky to lose 3:4 to eventual bronze medallist Felix Lebrun (France) in the last 16 of the singles tournament, had to overcome fierce resistance against the world number 37 Edward Ly without really being in danger. The 2017 World Cup winner only had to concede the loss of the second set after leading 7:4 up to that point. After the German victory, the former world number one said: "My father always says it's difficult to really shine against a supposedly weaker opponent and show all your skills. We dominated all three games today and deserved to win, even if we didn't shine."
On Tuesday at 8 p.m. against European champions Sweden
After a comfortable start to the team tournament against Canada, the silver medal winners from Tokyo 2020 now face a much higher hurdle on Tuesday evening at 8 p.m. The DTTB team will face European champions Sweden, who beat their Scandinavian neighbors Denmark 3:0 today, in a rematch of the 20213 European Championship final. Among others, the newly crowned Olympic silver medallist Truls Möregardh won the duel of the top players against Anders Lind 3:2. Kristian Karlsson scored the other two points in the second singles match against Jonathan Groth and in the opening doubles match alongside Anton Källberg.
National coach Jörg Roßkopf: "It will be a classic 50:50 game"
Men's national coach Jörg Roßkopf looks ahead: "Being in the quarter-finals of the Olympics is always a good feeling, but of course we want to go further. We know that it will be a tough match against Sweden tomorrow. There are no easy opponents in an Olympic quarter-final. We have to improve in all games because tomorrow's opponents will also demand more from us. We will be ready." On the strength of the Swedish team, the bronze medallist from Atlanta 1996 says: "They have Möregardh, the silver medallist in the singles, in their ranks, who plays outstandingly in Paris, and Källberg and Karlsson, two players who play or have played for Düsseldorf in the Bundesliga and train with us a lot. So all the players know each other very well. It will be a classic 50:50 game."
Men's national coach Jörg Roßkopf looks ahead: "Being in the quarter-finals of the Olympics is always a good feeling, but of course we want to go further. We know that it will be a tough match against Sweden tomorrow. There are no easy opponents in an Olympic quarter-final. We have to improve in all games because tomorrow's opponents will also demand more from us. We will be ready." On the strength of the Swedish team, the bronze medallist from Atlanta 1996 says: "They have Möregardh, the silver medallist in the singles, in their ranks, who plays outstandingly in Paris, and Källberg and Karlsson, two players who play or have played for Düsseldorf in the Bundesliga and train with us a lot. So all the players know each other very well. It will be a classic 50:50 game."
Olympic silver medalist in the singles Truls Möregardh, who only won with difficulty against Denmark's Lind today, expects Timo Boll to be back in top form for the quarter-final against Germany: "Truls was super tired today, but he has a lot of confidence. He has a good feeling from the many matches here in Paris. We have to take that away from him."
Source: DTTB press release
Feature pictures: (Photos: BeLa Sportfoto)