Qiu wins individual gold: Seven European Championship medals for six TTBL players
The European Table Tennis Championships in Munich came to an end with the title win for Dang Qiu in the men's singles. However, the penholder player from the German team champion Borussia Düsseldorf was only one of several players from the Tischtennis Bundesliga (TTBL) on the podium at the European Championships.
The German Table Tennis League (TTBL) can continue to present its fans with the European champion as the attraction of the strongest class on the continent: Dang Qiu from German team champion Borussia Düsseldorf surprisingly won the title in the men's singles at the European Championships in Munich. The 25-year-old succeeded his club colleague Timo Boll, who last won the gold medal in the king's event at the 2018 title matches in Spain and last year in Poland.
"It's not only a great victory for Dang, but also for table tennis Germany and for our club," Borussen manager Andreas Preuß commented on the success of the former star of Bundesliga side ASV Grünwettersbach.
Qiu's coup shortly before the start of the TTBL season made him one of the biggest draws of the season in the German top flight starting on the last weekend in August. But the penholder player was not the only player to return to his club from the Isar with a medal: In total, six players from four TTBL clubs made it onto the podium seven times at the European Championships.
Falck as medal hamster
Qiu may have won the most prestigious title, but Mattias Falck won the most medals. Werder Bremen's Swedish star made it to the semifinals in the singles, where the former World Championship runner-up was only beaten by Qiu, the eventual winner of the tournament. In addition to this bronze medal, however, Falck also brought home gold, because around eight months after the World Championship triumph with his compatriot Kristian Karlsson in the doubles, the top-10 player and his partner also won the continental title together.
By winning European Championship silver in the singles, Slovenian Europe Top 16 Cup winner Darko Jorgic of runner-up 1. FC Saarbrücken TT confirmed his place in the absolute world class. Austrian Daniel Habesohn of Champions League participant Post SV Mühlhausen also took second place in doubles to his compatriot Robert Gardos. Habesohn's Romanian club mate Ovidiu Ionescu also won silver in the mixed with Bernadette Szöcs.
Qiu's Düsseldorf club colleague Anton Källberg from Sweden left the Bavarian capital with bronze in his luggage. The most successful TTBL player of the past two years reached the semifinals in the second Swedish doubles with Jon Persson.
The most successful TTBL clubs in Munich were Düsseldorf and Bremen with one gold and bronze each for their players. Behind them in the unofficial TTBL medal table follows Mühlhausen with two silver medals ahead of Saarbrücken with a second place in the European Championships.