Düsseldorf. At the second edition of the WTT Feeder Düsseldorf in 2024 (November 18th to 22nd), of the five Germans who started in the qualification, only Melanie Merk made it into the main field.
Youth DM finalist Melanie Merk confidently moved into the first main round for women. The Langweider woman put Vivien Scholz from Luxembourg in her place in three sentences. Defense ace Lena Gottschlich, however, missed the jump into the main draw. She lost to South Korea’s Kim Hana 1:3.
Wim Verdonschot eliminated despite a strong performance
If there were a wildcard for particularly strong performances, Wim Verdonschot would have truly earned it today with his surprising second-round victory over the highly favored Japanese Jin Ueda, who was already leading 2-0 after sets. But the draw didn’t go well with the Velbert native, who immediately met another strong Asian in the form of the South Korean Kim Minhyeok and lost in four sets. Wim Verdonschot commented self-critically on his elimination: “I played a good tournament and reached the third round. The success over Jin Ueda in particular is very high. However, I am now very sad that I couldn’t win against the South Korean. I I missed a lot of chances.”
Tom Schweiger had a similar experience today. The Windsbacher impressed against the South Korean Kwak Yu-Bin, but then had to admit defeat to the Frenchman Leo de Nodrest 1:3. Benno Oehme was eliminated in his first singles against the Dutchman Barry Berben.
From Wednesday there will be nine Germans in the main field
From Wednesday to Friday, 48 women and men will play in the main fields for the coveted titles, including nine Germans. The top seed is WTT Champions Frankfurt semi-finalist Ricardo Walther, followed by 2023 Düsseldorf Feeder winner Steffen Mengel. In the women’s category, EM quarter-finalist Yuan Wan and Franziska Schreiner are the most promising DTTB aces. Local hero Kay Stumper from hosts Borussia Düsseldorf, semi-finalist at feeder Cagliari just a few weeks ago in Italy, Fanbo Meng (Fulda), Cedric Meissner (Saarbrücken), Sophia Klee (Langstadt) and qualifier Melanie Merk complete the German starting field.
On Wednesday, however, only Melanie Merk, Sophia Klee, Cedric Meissner and Fanbo Meng have to come to the table in the first individual round. The left-hander from Fulda didn’t have an easy opening task with the Chinese Niu Guankai. In addition, the duos Tom Schweiger/Franziska Schreiner and Sophia Klee/Franziska Schreiner as well as Yuan Wan will play their round of 16 matches alongside Turkish Ece Harac in the doubles competitions.
The results on Tuesday
Women’s singles, qualification, 2nd round
Lena Gottschlich – Kim Hana KOR 1:3 (-5,9,-6,-4)
Melanie Merk – Vivien Scholz LUX 3:0 (11,8,9)
Herren-Singles, qualification, 2nd round
Benno Oehme – Barry Berben NED 2:3 (8,-7.5,-9,-9)
Tom Schweiger – Quack You-Been CORE 3:1 (8,8,-8,11)
Wim Verdonschot – Jin Ueda JPN 3:2 (-8,-6,8,4,8)
3. Round
Tom Schweiger – Leo de Nodrest FRA 1:3 (-9,8,-6,-3)
Wim Verdonschot – Kim Minhyeok KOR 1:3 (-6,7,8,-6)
Herren-Double, qualification
Wim Verdonschot/Tom Schweiger – Brian Afanador/Oscar Briell PUR 2:3 (6,-9,6,-6,-7)
Mixed, qualification, 2nd round
Sophia Klee/Wim Verdonschot – Kim Hana/Ho Jeongmun KOR 0:3 (-6,-13,-6)
The German games on Wednesday
Mixed, round of 16
Tom Schweiger/Franziska Schreiner – Anton Limonov/Solomiya Brateylko UKR 10.35 a.m., T1
Women’s singles, 1st round (best 48)
Melanie Merk – Sofia-Xuan Zhang ESP 11.45 a.m., T1
Sofia Klee – Gaia Monfardini ITA 12.20 Uhr, T1
Herren-Singles, 1st round (best 48)
Cedric Meissner – Taehyun Kim MLT 1:30 p.m., T1
Fanbo Meng – Niu Guankai CHN 14.05 Uhr, T1
Women’s doubles round of 16
Yuan Wang/Ece Harac GER/TUR – Choi Haeeun/Kim Hana KOR 7.25 p.m., T1
Sophia Klee/Franziska Schreiner – Kim Haeun/Yoo Siwoo KOR 8 PM, T1
Links
The German starters at the WTT Feeder Düsseldorf II/2024
Men’s Singles (8)
Ricardo Walther, ASV Grünwettersbach
Steffen Mengel, Post SV Mühlhausen
Kay Stumper, Borussia Dusseldorf
Fanbo Meng, TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell
Cedric Meissner, 1. FC Saarbrücken-TT
Benno Oehme, TTC OE Bad Homburg
Wim Verdonschot, SV Union Velbert
Tom Schweiger, TSV Windsbach
Women’s singles (5)
Yuan Wan, TTC Weinheim
Franziska Schreiner, TSV Langstadt
Sophia Klee, TSV Langstadt
Lena Gottschlich, MTV Tostedt
Melanie Merk, TTC Langweid
STATISTICS
The 39 German medal wins at the 8 feeder tournaments in Düsseldorf
(Feeder 1/2024, Feeder 1, 2 and 3/2023, Feeder 1, 2 and 3/2023, Feeder 2021)
Gold (12)
Steffen Mengel (men’s singles, feeder 3/2023)
Cedric Meissner/Ricardo Walther (men’s doubles, feeder 3/2023)
Chantal Mantz/Yuan Wan (Women’s Doubles, Feeder 2/2023)
Annett Kaufman (women’s singles, feeder 1/2023)
Cedric Meissner (men’s singles, feeder 1/2023)
Yuan Wan/Cedric Meissner (Mixed, Feeder 1/2023)
Dimitriy Ovtcharov (Men’s Singles, Feeder 3/2022)
Shan Xiaona (Damen-Einzel, Feeder 3/2022)
Patrick Franziska (men’s singles, feeder 2/2022)
Benedikt Duda (Men’s Singles, Feeder 2021)
Chantal Mantz/Yuan Wan (Women’s Doubles, Feeder 2/2022)
Tobias Hippler/Franziska Schreiner (Mixed, Feeder 2021)
Silber (7)
Xiaona Shan (Damen-Einzel, Feeder 3/2023)
Yuan Wan/Cedric Meissner (Mixed, Feeder 3/2023)
Benedikt Duda (Men’s Singles, Feeder 3/2022)
Kilian Ort/Cedric Meissner (men’s doubles, feeder 3/2022)
Xiaona Shan (Damen-Einzel, Feeder 1/2022)
Franziska Schreiner/Tobias Hippler (Mixed, Feeder 1/2022)
Sabine Winter (women’s singles, feeder 2021)
Bronze (20)
Sabine Winter/Xiaona Shan (women’s doubles, feeder 1/2024)
Yuan Wan/Chantal Mantz (Women’s Doubles, Feeder 1/2024)
Sabine Winter (women’s singles, feeder 3/2023)
Nina Mittelham/Dang Qiu (Mixed, Feeder 3/2023)
Xiaona Shan (Damen-Einzel, Feeder 2/2023)
Yuan Wan/Cedric Meissner (Mixed, Feeder 2/2023)
Ricardo Walther (men’s singles, feeder 1/2023)
Sophia Klee/Franziska Schreiner (women’s doubles, feeder 1/2023)
Annett Kaufmann/Sabine Winter (women’s doubles, feeder 1/2023)
Benedikt Duda/Sabine Winter (Mixed, Feeder 3/2022)
Ricardo Walther/Deni Kozul, Slovenia (men’s doubles, feeder 3/2022)
Tobias Hippler/Kilian Ort doubles (men’s doubles, feeder 2/2022)
Ricardo Walther/Fanbo Meng (men’s doubles, feeder 1/2022)
Benedikt Duda (men’s singles, feeder 1/2022)
Sabine Winter (women’s singles, feeder 1/2022)
Chantal Mantz (Women’s Singles, 1/2022)
Chantal Mantz (Women’s Singles, Feeder 2021)
Yuan Wan/Chantal Mantz (Women’s Doubles, Feeder 2021)
Yuan Wan/Cedric Meissner (Mixed, Feeder 2021)
Benno Oehme (with Vivien Scholz, Luxembourg / Mixed, Feeder 2021)
Questions:
1. How do German athletes feel about the Olympic qualification process and the importance of feeder tournaments like the WTT Feeder Düsseldorf II/2024 in their quest for Tokyo 2024 qualification?
2. What challenges do German athletes face when competing in these qualifying events, and how do they approach them differently than other tournaments?
3. Can you discuss the overall performance of the German team in previous feeder tournaments, and what areas they are focusing on for improvement in the upcoming tournament?
4. What role do the tournaments played in identifying and nurturing young talent for the German table tennis team?
5. How do German athletes manage to maintain their physical and mental fitness while balancing training and competition schedules during the long Olympic qualification period?
