Beat himself and the ball extremely well: Benedikt Duda
One thing in advance: There should not be a dream final for men at the European Table Tennis Championships in Linz. While Truls Möregårdh fought bravely, Félix Lebrun, the young top star, surprisingly failed in the quarterfinals against the always good Benedikt Duda. Lebrun saw red after the match: first he threw his racket, then there was a red card. Bitter for him: the world ranking points he had earned were taken away.
Dang Qiu, the German defending champion, then had to feel the revenge of his big brother. He lost to Alexis Lebrun 1:4, also in the quarterfinals. The men’s semi-finals were: A. Lebrun – Möregårdh, and Duda – Dimitrij Ovtcharov in an all-German duel.
But from the beginning. There was a lot going on in Linz. The program was tight. Four competitions took place from Tuesday – from singles to doubles, men’s, women’s and mixed. Sweden’s Christina Källberg became the most prominent victim of the tight schedule, bursting into tears on Thursday, more out of exhaustion than frustration. That day she had to play four times within five hours. In an interview with Swedish television she said: “I just wanted to get out of here, really.” On Friday, fate answered her – she had no chance against the reigning European champion Sofia Polcanova from Austria, losing 4-0. The hardships should come to an end.
Polcanova, meanwhile, played confidently through the tournament. After missing gold in the mixed doubles, she surfed confidently into the final day, Sunday, both in the doubles with the Romanian Bernadette Szőcs and in the singles. As for doubles: No wonder if the two best singles players form a doubles.
The mood in the audience was consistently good, although one has to admit that an event like this would have deserved an even larger audience (and a more compatible hall). Linz, the capital of Austrian table tennis, was overall likeable; The proximity to the border meant that numerous Germans also found their way into the hall.
It was the many small impressions that remain from this big event: Sofia Polcanova, wearing headphones, stoically walking into the hall. Everyone playing with rolling suitcases, only a few with backpacks, hardly any or one with a sports bag. The one from the Upper Austrian news The section leader of the competition, who was named “Upper Austrian of the Day,” told how 4,000 square meters of special flooring had to be laid for the tournament and that he was paid 50 euros per day in compensation without accommodation for his 18-hour shifts.
Players like Georgina Póta, 39 years old and mother, who celebrated her last successes over ten years ago, but here, driven by her tirelessly complaining coach, at least made it to the round of 16 – after defeating the great young talent Prithika Pavade from France. The latter hung sadly in the chair for a while after the match; Their tournament ended on Friday instead of Sunday as hoped. Another French disappointment.
The Germans, however, did much better than expected. And more than that: it was as if they wanted to show the Swedes and French once again where the hammer is. In the women’s category, Yuan Wan and Sabine Winter reached the quarterfinals. Unfortunately, it was an early end for Annett Kaufmann, who didn’t have the slightest chance in the round of 16 against Bernadette Szőcs. She was also a bit unlucky in the mixed doubles with Patrick Franziska – after all, after missed match points in the semi-final against Polcanova/Gardos, the up-and-coming 18-year-old received her first medal, albeit only bronze.
Nina Mittelham improved from round to round and also made it into the medal ranks. In the semi-finals they faced defending champion Polcanova, a repeat of the final in Munich. This time, however, she had no chance at 1:4. The final was played by Szőcs (win against Maria Xiao from Spain) and Polcanova. Unfortunately after going to press. So please open this newspaper again tomorrow to find out about the results!
In the men’s category, Benedikt Duda, Patrick Franziska, Dimitrij Ovtcharov and Dang Qiu made it to the quarterfinals. There, see above, Duda achieved the sensation against the younger Lebrun; Ovtcharov won the first of two all-German duels against Franziska. You can also read the men’s final results on this page tomorrow.
There were also surprises – such as the early elimination of the Danes, especially Anders Lund, who recently beat world number one Wang Chiqun from China. Or the performance of the young German Andre Bertelsmeier, who bravely defended himself against top favorite Félix Lebrun and was at least able to win a set. Didn’t we recently talk about the lack of young German talent? Here comes the counter-evidence.
But Lebrun was supposed to get to know a completely different German opponent. The dream final against Möregårdh will have to wait another two years. Or, to conclude with the words of tournament director Alen Ivancin: “It’s hard, but that’s table tennis.”
