Even a phenomenal performance by Annett Kaufmann could not prevent the German table tennis players from losing to Japan in the semi-finals. There is still one big goal.
Despite another outstanding performance by Olympic debutant Annett Kaufmann, the German women’s table tennis team missed the final in the team competition. Kaufmann, Yuan Wan and Xiaona Shan were beaten 1:3 by the clearly favored Japanese in the semifinals. Germany will now face South Korea in the battle for bronze on Saturday (10:00 a.m.), which lost clearly 0:3 to top favorite China in the second semifinal.
“Of course I’m a little sad and frustrated that we were unfortunately knocked out in the semifinals, because we had a chance,” said Kaufmann. The 18-year-old surprisingly won the first singles match against Miwa Harimoto, who is two years younger and number eight in the world rankings, 3-0, and showed a world-class performance. “I’m happy that I was able to win 3-0 and keep my focus. Of course I’m ready for the next match.”
Japan is trying to break China’s dominance in the final. China has won all table tennis team competitions at the Olympics since 2008, both for men and women.
Even the phenomenal Kaufmann, who had led the German team into the round of the best four with two wins in the quarter-finals against India, could not prevent the defeat against Japan. After her fifth win in the fifth match of the team competition, the teenager threw both hands over her face in disbelief. The player from SV DJK Kolbermoor had only slipped into the squad a few weeks before the Olympics due to the loss of Ying Han.
However, it was not enough to reach the final. In the other singles, Wan lost to Miu Hirano (0:3) and Shan lost to Harimoto (0:3). In the opening match, Wan and Shan lost 1:3 in the doubles against Hina Hayata/Miu Hirano.
Bad luck with injuries in the German team
Table tennis star Timo Boll, who ended his international career after the men’s quarter-finals defeat against Sweden, knew how difficult the task for the German women’s team was even before the first serve. A win against Japan would be “probably the biggest sensation of the Olympics,” Boll said.
Reaching the semifinals was already a great success for the women’s team, which was weakened by a lack of replacements. The injured Nina Mittelham, the best-placed German player in the world rankings, was again missing; she had injured her spinal disc during her second-round exit in the singles in Paris. Ying Han, another top German player, was unable to travel to Paris due to a torn Achilles tendon.
Source: Stern
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