The German table tennis star Dimitrij Ovtcharov dropped out early at the World Championships in South Africa.
The German table tennis star Dimitrij Ovtcharov dropped out early at the World Championships in South Africa.
As in Budapest in 2019, the Olympic bronze medalist from TTC Neu-Ulm also lost in Durban in the third round to Croatian Tomislav Pucar. This time it was 3:4 for the 34-year-old after sets. “I’m very disappointed because it was a big chance and I played well below my potential,” said Ovtcharov. “Unfortunately, it wasn’t a good performance, which of course is a shame at a World Cup. You want to play your best table tennis there.”
Ovtcharov never reached the quarterfinals at the World Championships
The former world number one, Ovtcharov, has twice won the European title and the Olympic bronze medal in his career. At World Championships, however, he never made it past the round of 16 in singles.
Despite the renewed defeat against Pucar, Ovtcharov still has a chance for a medal in Durban: In doubles he reached the quarterfinals together with Patrick Franziska on Wednesday afternoon. The two German national players won in 3:2 sets against the Japanese Shunsuke Togami and Yukiya Uda, who are in second place in the doubles world rankings. Quarter-final opponents on Thursday afternoon are English outsiders Paul Drinkhall and Liam Pitchford. Ovtcharov and Franziska could only meet one of the two Chinese doubles in the final.
Ovtcharov’s feared opponent Pucar is only 45th in the world rankings. However, the 27-year-old is a former U21 European champion and played in the Bundesliga for TTC Fulda-Maberzell from 2018 to 2020. His next opponent is the Egyptian Omar Assar, who also managed a surprise on Wednesday: he defeated the Swedish vice world champion Truls Möregardh 4:2.
Source: Stern
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