Timo Boll, Dimitrij Ovtcharov and Dang Qiu have no problems with Canada – Sweden awaits on Tuesday.
Timo Boll and the German table tennis men have taken the first steps towards their fifth Olympic team medal, and for the most part it was still a walk in the park: The DTTB team around record European champion Boll and former world number one Dimitrij Ovtcharov defeated outsider Canada 3-0 in the round of 16 of the Paris Summer Games.
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Tough opponent in the quarter-finals
In the quarterfinals on Tuesday (8 p.m.), a much more difficult task awaits the Swedes, including the second-placed singles player Truls Möregardh. Boll, in his first appearance in Paris, and European champion Dang Qiu, who had already failed in the second round in the singles, brought the German team into the lead in the doubles against Eugene Wang/Jeremy Hazin with a confident 3:1 (11:5, 8:11, 11:8, 11:5).
Superior individual performance
In the singles, the team of national coach Jörg Roßkopf also left nothing to chance against Canada, who are number 22 in the world rankings. Ovtcharov, who was dramatically defeated by French rising star Felix Lebrun in the round of 16 of the singles competition, only wobbled briefly against Edward Ly in a 3:1 (11:4, 9:11, 11:6, 11:5), but Boll then made everything clear with a 3:0 (11:8, 11:5, 12:10) against Wang, number 106 in the world rankings.
Boll’s cold start
The 43-year-old Boll did not play in the singles at his seventh and final Summer Games; it was a cold start for him against Canada. “I’m actually a bit worried about that,” Boll told the Sport-Information-Dienst (SID). Ultimately, the worries were unfounded.
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Historic successes
Since the Olympic team premiere in 2008, the German men have always won a medal, twice silver (2008, 2021), twice bronze (2012, 2016) – Boll and Ovtcharov have always been part of the German team. China has won the Olympic gold medal four times.
Women’s team also starts
The German women will play their opening match on Tuesday morning (10:00 a.m.) against the USA.
