German national table tennis team

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The German national table tennis team represents Germany in table tennis at world championships , European championships , as well as at the Olympic and European games . The umbrella organization is the DTTB .

Men

successes

World championships

European championships

European Games

European Nations Cup

  • Gold (3): 1991, 1992, 1998
  • Silver (2): 1993, 1996

Olympic games

occupation

The Olympic and perspective squads currently (September 2019) consist of nine players, eight of whom play in the first division . With the exception of Kilian Ort, all of them have already been used at world and / or European championships.

history

Pre-war period (1926–1939)

The German team was already represented at the first World Cup in 1926 , but in the end finished last with six defeats from six games. In the following years, the team was able to improve a little and occupied several places in the midfield. The fifth of ten ( 1931 ) or eleven ( 1932 ) ranks was the best World Cup placement that could be achieved. In 1934 and 1935 they did not participate, at the following two world championships the team fell back to 11th place (from 14 and 13 respectively). The last World Cup participation for the time being followed in 1938 , when the German selection landed again in the midfield on place 9 of 16. With the annexation of Austria , the teams of both countries were also united, the World Cup in 1939 , the last before the Second World War, but took place again without Germany for financial reasons and because of the emigration of Austrians Richard Bergmann and Alfred Liebster .

New beginning with all German team (1949–1957)

In 1949 the DTTB was re-established, the following year the first international game followed, which was lost 4-5 to Sweden. The World Cup took place again since 1947, but Germany had only been represented since the 1951 World Cup , at the request of the ITTF with a joint team representing West and East Germany. At this World Cup, the team achieved a placement in midfield with rank 10 out of 24. Similar results were achieved in the following years, but reaching 10th place again at the 1954 World Cup resulted in a downgrade to performance category 2. After the next World Cup , however, they were upgraded to Category 1. The World Championships in 1956 and 1957 were the last for the time being in which the FRG and GDR competed with a team. In both cases, an unusually good ranking was achieved with rank 5.

First medals on separate paths (1958–1969)

From 1958, the year of the first European championship , Germany no longer competed with a common team. Nevertheless, the team from Germany managed a good placement at the European Championship by finishing second in their group with Sweden and Yugoslavia tied with points (no differentiation according to the ratio was made). Since only the two group winners played out the European champions, this was comparable to third place. The GDR team finished eleventh. Acceptable results were also achieved at the next tournaments, at the 1961 World Cup , the GDR even came second in their group and thus achieved fourth place overall, which was to remain the last good result. At the EM 1962 , which took place in West Berlin and was boycotted by the GDR and numerous Eastern European countries, the FRG came second in their group and thus shared third place in the overall ranking with England, the other group runner-up. By making it to the semi-finals of the 1963 World Cup , the team also won its first World Championship medal. A second was narrowly missed in 1967 when they lost in the game for third place to Sweden. However, against the reigning European champions Sweden, among others, the FRG selection managed to win at the 1969 home World Cup . There the team also made it into the final for the first time, which was lost 3: 5 to Japan, and thus won silver. The GDR did not take part in this tournament and stayed away from the major international competitions in the period that followed.

Germany also took part in the Europa League , which was founded in 1967 , but initially only occupied midfield positions.

Dry spell without the GDR (1970–1989)

After the great success at the 1969 World Cup, the FRG team had to do without a medal for a long time. In 1975 and 1977 they even got down from the top division of the Europa League, but managed to get up again in the following season. Neither in world nor in European championships did the team get past 5th place until the 1980 European Championship in Bern again showed success: after a final defeat by record European champions Sweden, they won silver, which was the best position at an European Championship to date . The years after that were marked by declining performance, at the 1983 World Cup , the team even fell back to 15th place after a final 4-5 defeat after a 4-0 lead against Denmark and was therefore downgraded to performance category 2. At the next world championship , 17th place was the best possible placement, which, however, was achieved immediately, so that the BRD selection could again compete in category 1. In the same year she reached third place in the Europa League, then had to relegate again in 1986, but managed to get promoted again in 1987. However, there were no further medal wins.

The GDR did not take part in either European or world championships during this period.

Reunification and resurgence (1990-2001)

At the European Championships in 1990 , the GDR competed with a men's team for the first time since 1968, which, due to the reunification, also meant the last participation. However, the team only reached 26th place, while the FRG was able to win a runner-up again ten years after the silver medal in Bern, again after a final defeat against Sweden.

From the 1991 World Cup , there was only one German team that was able to achieve a number of international successes. First place in the Europa League , the first European Nations Cup and fifth place at the World Cup - the best placement since 1977 - were followed within a short time by three important bronze medals, two at European Championships and one at the 1993 World Cup . The European Nations Cup was won for the second time in 1992, and silver was awarded in 1993 and 1996. At the 1997 World Cup (despite losing third place) there was bronze, Germany finished the last European Nations Cup in 1998 with a third gold medal, followed by first place in the European League in 1999 and 2000. At the 2000 European Championship , the German team won Third time before the final - again exactly ten years after the last European Championship finals. For the third time, however, she failed there against Sweden and thus won silver. The 2001 World Cup ended with seventh place.

Rise to the top of the world (2002-2014)

World rankings of the best 4 players since 2001

Since 2002, Timo Boll, who became European champion for the first time this year, has had a top 10 player again, which in the EM team competition - after the third victory in a row in the European league - was initially not enough to win the title . At the fourth European Championship final in 2002 they lost to Sweden for the fourth time, and then to Belarus in 2003 . Among other things, they managed to win against Sweden in the group stage of the 2004 World Cup , in which the German team was only defeated by China and thus achieved second place - the first World Cup medal since 1997 and the first silver medal since 1969 . A few months later Richard Prause took over the office of national coach in September.

However, the team was unable to build on the good World Cup performance in the following year at the European Championships , so that after a quarter-final defeat against Romania only 5th place was achieved. Instead, they won another medal at the 2006 home World Cup , but this time only bronze, as the team met China in the semi-finals due to the unfavorable seeding position. The 3-1 defeat, however, was the only game of the tournament in which a single could be won against China, which decided every other match 3-0 for itself. In 2007 , a 3-0 victory in the final over Croatia finally won the team's first European championship title.

At the 2008 World Cup , the German team had to do without Timo Boll, who was out due to back problems. Although Dimitrij Ovtcharov, who has now moved up to 15th place in the world rankings, performed well, the team only made it to 2nd place behind Japan in the group stage. After a narrow 3-2 win over Austria, the encounter with South Korea in the quarter-finals meant the end, after another defeat against Taiwan and a victory over Romania, the team finished 7th.

But this meant the last disappointment for the time being: At the first Olympic team competition they won the silver medal after a 3-0 defeat against host China, and gold at the next five European championships ( 2008 , 2009 , 2010 , 2011 , 2013 ), although in 2013 the sick Timo Boll had to do without. This dominance earned the team the nickname “The Chinese of Europe”, and a film with this name was also released on the occasion of the 2012 home World Cup. In August 2010 Jörg Roßkopf took over from Richard Prause as national coach. At the World Championships in 2010 , 2012 and 2014 , the team also won three more silver medals (in 2010 and 2014 they were the only team to win an individual against China), and in 2012 (after a semi-final defeat against China) at the Olympics bronze. In the meantime, Dimitrij Ovtcharov had also made it into the top 10 of the world rankings, making Germany the only country besides China with more than one player in the top 10 in the world. A better result than 1: 3 could never be achieved against the big favorite.

Defaults and title losses (since 2014)

In the run-up to and during the 2014 European Championship , there were numerous problems: Patrick Baum had to cancel at short notice due to the death of his father, Patrick Franziska injured himself in the second group game and Dimitrij Ovtcharov, weakened by a wisdom tooth operation, arrived late (only 8 minutes before At the beginning of the third group game he reached the hall). Nevertheless, the team reached the final undefeated and largely safe, but lost 3-1 to hosts Portugal, who had been defeated 3-1 in the group. After six European titles in a row, this silver medal was a disappointment. The last time they lost to a team other than China was the 2008 World Cup at World and European Championships and the Olympic Games. The team traveled with Boll, Ovtcharov and Baum to the first European games in 2015 , but Boll contracted food poisoning after the first game and was therefore eliminated. Since substitute players were not allowed and therefore two points were lost from the start with a double in each subsequent game, the chances of winning the title were poor. A semi-final defeat against France and a defeat against Austria meant fourth place.

A few months later the next European Championship took place, but Timo Boll was absent again due to a knee operation. Christian Süß had meanwhile ended his career for health reasons. Ovtcharov remained undefeated in the entire tournament, which meant that the final was reached for the eighth time in a row, which was just lost 3-2 to Austria. The team was hit even harder at the 2016 World Cup : Ovtcharov had to cancel due to back problems, while Boll, who had only recently returned from his injury break, fell ill. Weakened in this way, the German team already lost in the group stage against France and England and did not even reach the main round. In the end, they finished 13th, which was the worst World Cup result in over 30 years.

At the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro , the German team was in second place thanks to the good world rankings of Dimitrij Ovtcharov, Timo Boll and Bastian Steger and this time they were not hindered by failures. Nevertheless, the team, which had the highest average age of all participants, failed in the semifinals with 1: 3 to Japan, but was able to win the bronze medal with a 3: 1 victory over South Korea.

At the 2017 European Championship , Germany was able to win a European title for the first time since 2013 and did not lose any individual apart from the semi-finals against Slovenia. After a strong 2017, both Boll and Ovtcharov briefly led the world rankings in 2018, so that Germany was ranked first at the Team World Cup and the possibility of a gold medal was expected. However, Ovtcharov had only recently returned from an injury break, and Boll and Franziska also struggled with injuries during the tournament. After a narrow 3-2 semi-final victory over South Korea and a final defeat against China, Germany took silver for the sixth time. 2019, Germany showed at European level dominant and won both the European games and the team championship without losing a single.

Tournament placements

Olympic games

year Host country Participation until ... Last opponent Result Comments and special features
2008 China Endgame China silver -
2012 Great Britain 3rd place match Hong Kong bronze -
2016 Brazil 3rd place match South Korea bronze -

Women

World ranking positions of the best 4 German table tennis players until 2012
... from 2012 regardless of the eligibility to play
... from 2012 (only with World Cup playing authorization)

successes

World championships

European championships

European Games

Olympic games

occupation

The Olympic and perspective squads currently (September 2019) include eight players, seven of whom play in the first division .

history

Pre-war period (1934-1939)

At the first world championships, no team competitions for women were held; this was the case for the first time in 1934 when the German team won gold. She also played very successfully in the following years - except in 1938, when she did not take part - and won another title, two silver medals and a bronze medal at the world championships. Then the Second World War caused an interruption of several years.

literature

  • Manfred Schäfer, Winfried Stöckmann, Norbert Wolf u. a .: A game for life - 75 years of the German Table Tennis Association. Frankfurt am Main 2000, ISBN 3-00-005890-7 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b squad. tischtennis.de, accessed on September 13, 2019 .
  2. ↑ "The Chinese of Europe": DVD available for less than 10 euros. tischtennis.de, December 10, 2013, accessed on April 6, 2018 .
  3. ↑ The Chinese of Europe - website (accessed April 3, 2016)
  4. ↑ Baum cancels the start of the EM, Ovtcharov later travels to Lisbon. tischtennis.de, September 22, 2014, accessed April 6, 2018 .
  5. ↑ Germany after Franziska injury and Ovtcharov Odyssey in the quarter-finals / opponent France. tischtennis.de, September 25, 2014, accessed April 6, 2018 .
  6. ↑ Strong alone, but not strong enough: Decimated DTTB men play for bronze. tischtennis.de, June 14, 2015, accessed April 6, 2018 .
  7. ^ Sports director Richard Prause: "We are very disappointed and sober". tischtennis.de, March 2, 2016, accessed April 6, 2018 .
  8. ↑ Germany failed! Worst result since 1985. mytischtennis.de, March 2, 2016, accessed on April 6, 2018 .
  9. ↑ "I've never paused for so long". sueddeutsche.de, April 24, 2018, accessed on May 6, 2018 .
  10. ↑ DTTB team in the semi-finals! Out for Japan! Sweden in a frenzy. mytischtennis.de, May 4, 2018, accessed on May 6, 2018 .
  11. ↑ Successful title defense: men get eighth European Championship gold! mytischtennis.de, September 8, 2019, accessed on September 13, 2019 .