Table tennis whiz kid Annett Kaufmann missed the final at the European Championships with her mixed partner Patrick Franziska – but won the bronze medal. In a hard-fought semi-final duel with the Austrian local heroes Sofia Polcanova and Robert Gardos, the German duo narrowly lost 2:3 (8:11, 12:10, 14:12, 9:11, 14:16). The 18-year-old Kaufmann had already secured her first medal at an individual European Championships in the adult sector by reaching the semi-finals.
Against the Austrian duo with the 45-year-old Gardos and individual European champion Polcanova, Kaufmann and the experienced Franziska (32) only continued their strong performances during the tournament after a weak start. In the deciding set, however, the two DTTB hopes missed three match points. In doubles, “frequent player” Kaufmann was eliminated alongside European Championship runner-up Nina Mittelham against the Swedes Linda Bergström and Christina Källberg in the round of 16 (1:3).
Kaufmann had already won gold twice at the European team championships with the German women. The left-hander has won all the individual titles up to the U21 level. In the men’s category, Dang Qiu and Benedikt Duda reached the quarter-finals with a clear win against the Austrians Gardos/Daniel Habesohn (3-0). Andre Bertelsmeier and Fanbo Meng as well as Yuan Wan and Sabine Winter were eliminated.
