“Overwhelmed” but ‘proud’: Duda sensationally wins European Championship silver

Benedikt Duda quickly found his smile again. The crowning glory of his sensational triumph at the European Table Tennis Championships in Linz did not come, but with silver he celebrated the greatest success of his individual career to date. In the final, the 30-year-old left-hander from TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt lost 0:4 (5:11, 8:11, 6:11, 2:11) to Alexis Lebrun from France.

“I'm very proud of myself,” said Duda: ”I played really well here. I would have liked to have gone one step further, but Alexis was too good today.” His opponent was “perfectly prepared” in the final: “He always had an answer, studied me in detail and rolled over me in the final.”

Duda had previously demystified Lebrun's younger brother Felix (18), two-time bronze medal winner in Paris, in the quarter-finals. In the semi-finals, Duda beat two-time European champion Dimitrij Ovtcharov (Fulda) 4:2. However, a German streak was broken in the final: Timo Boll (2018, 2021) and Dang Qiu (2022) had won the European Championship titles before Alexis Lebrun.

The German Table Tennis Association (DTTB) thus won four medals at the first European championships after Boll's international retirement, but no title. By reaching the semi-finals, Ovtcharov secured bronze, as did Nina Mittelham, who was beaten 1:4 by eventual European champion Sofia Polcanova in the singles semi-finals on Sunday. Annett Kaufmann and Patrick Franziska had also won bronze in the mixed on Friday.

Until his successes in Upper Austria, Duda had always been overshadowed by the top German players Boll and Ovtcharov. He previously celebrated his greatest successes as part of the team: Duda won European Championship gold with the national team in 2021, followed by World Championship silver in 2022.

Now his spectacular performances in Linz. After his coup against Ovtcharov, Duda had announced that he wanted to “go one better” in the final. However, Alexis Lebrun, who had previously won the doubles title at the European Championships alongside his brother Felix, repeatedly caused Duda problems in the final with his strong serves. The Frenchman dominated the match from the start and converted his second match point.

Source: SID
Featured image above: Benedikt Duda (Photo: AFP/SID/JOE KLAMAR)