European champions against world champions: it was a highly anticipated top game at this table tennis world championship. In the end the German Dang Qiu had no chance against the Chinese Fan Zhendong.
European table tennis champion Dang Qiu lost the top game at the World Cup in South Africa against world champion and world number one Fan Zhandong. The 26-year-old from Borussia Düsseldorf lost to the Chinese in the round of 16 in 0:4 sets.
With Dang, the last of five German players in the individual competition of this World Cup was eliminated. Record European champion Timo Boll is missing in Durban due to a shoulder injury.
“Too bad,” said Dang Qiu after the defeat. “I didn’t necessarily let one or two chances lie. But he plays with incredible precision, calm and overview. On the internet you can only see how quickly he gets things done. But that’s not the decisive factor. I really liked his precision today hurt.”
The first duel between number ten and number one in the world was not as one-sided as the end result says for a long time. The German only lost the first set in overtime with 10:12. After an 8:6 lead, he gave up the third round with 8:11. The last set was then clearly lost at 5:11.
Dang Qiu has only been a world leader since last year. He won the European Championship title in Munich, rose to become the top 10 player in the world rankings and led a weakened German team to the final of the World Team Championship. His youth idol Wang Hao sat in the coaching box as coach of Fan Zhendong on Thursday. The 39-year-old became world champion in 2009.
The German-born son of a former Chinese national player called his record in Durban “all in all okay. I fulfilled my target and reached the round of 16 as number ten in the world,” said Dang Qiu. “There are two or three players in the tableau against whom I’m still behind. One of them is Fan Zhendong. I have a really good chance against everyone else on a good day.”
Source: Stern
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