International

The German table tennis players are unbeaten in the last 16 of the World Championships and are now just one win away from qualifying for the Olympics. In Busan/South Korea, Dimitrij Ovtcharov, Dang Qiu and Patrick Franziska beat England 3:0 on Monday to finish the preliminary round as group winners after four wins in four matches.

Only Franziska dropped a set in his match against Paul Drinkhall. England were without their top player Liam Pitchford, who was rested due to a foot injury.

"There are still a few things we can work on, but in the end you have to be satisfied to be unbeaten as group winners. That was the most important thing for us and a good first step," said European champion Dang Qiu, adding: "Of course, the main round is more important to us, but we have to do our homework."

The next round for national coach Jörg Roßkopf's team, who will have to do without record European champion Timo Boll in South Korea, does not start until Wednesday. With a win in the round of 16 - the opponent has not yet been determined - the German Table Tennis Association (DTTB) team will secure a ticket to the Summer Games in Paris (starting July 26).

"Now it's time for us to keep working hard, prepare well and use the time for training sessions at the table, athletics training, game observation and video analysis," said Roßkopf.

Annett Kaufmann, who is only 17 years old, also lost just one set against Ema Labosova in the women's tournament. On the other hand, Nina Mittelham and Xiaona Shan held their own in their singles matches. The women also have to return to the court on Wednesday.

Source: SID
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