And suddenly he was there: record European champion Timo Boll in Frankfurt
Ricardo Walther was not the only one from the ranks of the German Table Tennis Association who was allowed to give autographs. At first unrecognized, table tennis legend Timo Boll took a tour of the old places of work in the Süwag Energie ARENA. At the latest with the announcement by the hall announcers, the entire audience became aware of the idol. From now on, the aim of the autograph hunters was no longer just on the active players on the court. “It’s like being at home,” said the record European champion. Boll grew up not far away in the Odenwald and took his first steps in table tennis there. “I’ve stood in the hall here several times and played a few good matches,” he remembers.
He last appeared at the first Frankfurt edition of the WTT Champions in 2023, where he lost to the Korean Lee Sang-su. The tournament was later won by the Taiwanese Lin Yun-Ju, who will be back in the quarterfinals in 2024. On Friday at 4 p.m. he has to face Hugo Calderano, who prevailed against Kirill Gerassimenko in the duel between the TTBL players today. There is also a lot of attention on tomorrow evening’s final game. France’s exceptional talent Félix Lebrun will then play in the Infinity Arena against Olympic silver medalist Truls Moregardh. The tournament day starts again at 2 p.m., tickets are still available both online and at the box office.
This is what Friday at WTT Champions looks like:
2 p.m.: Shin Yubin KOR – Wang Yidi CHN
14.40 Uhr: Sora Matsushima JPN – Lin Shidong CHN
15.20 Uhr: He Zhuojia CHN – Miwa Harimoto JPN
4.00pm: Lin Yun-Ju TPE – Hugo Calderano BRA
18.30: Chen Xingtong CHN – Satsuki Odo JPN
19.10 Uhr: Anton Källberg SWE – Ricardo Walther GER
19.50 Uhr: Wang Manyu CHN – Qian Tianyi CHN
20.30 Uhr: Félix Lebrun FRA – Truls Moregardh SWE
The games on Thursday:
Damen
Qian Tianyi CHN – Mima Ito JPN 3:0 (3,1,10)
Wang Manyu CHN – Joo Cheonhui KOR 3:1 (7,-9,8,8)
Elizabeta Samara ROU – Wang Yidi CHN 0:3 (-6,-5,-8)
Cheng I-Ching TPE – He Zhuojia CHN 0:3 (-4,-6,-10)
Herren
Darko Jorgic SLO – Sora Matsushima JPN 1:3 (-7,6,-4,-9)
Liam Pitchford ENG – Truls Moregardh SWE 0:3 (-10,-5,-9)
Kirill Gerassimenko KAZ – Hugo Calderano BRA 0:3 (-9,-6,-4)
Benedikt Duda GER – Lin Shidong CHN 0:3 (-4,-9,-7)
All games in the live stream on Dyn.
The results so far
Sunday, November 3rd, 2024:
Damen
Chen Xingtong CHN – Dina Meshref EGY 3:0 (7,6,3)
Bruna Takahashi BRA – Mima Ito JPN 0:3 (-5,-10,-7)
Cheng I-Ching TPE – Natalia Bajor PLN 3:2 (-8,-7,7,4,5)
Shin Yubin KOR – Manika Batra IND 3:0 (6,11,6)
Miu Hirano JPN – Lily Zhang USA 3:0 (4,4,10)
Herren
Patrick Franziska GER – Darko Jorgic SLO 2:3 (-5,4,-7,11,-9)
Quadri Aruna NGR – Tomokazu Harimoto JPN 3:2 (-7,-11,5,12,3)
Anton Källberg SWE – Omar Assar EGY 3:0 (9,7,3)
Felix Lebrun FROM – Simon Gauzy FROM 3:1 (3,-8,10,8)
Lim Yonghoon KOR – Kirill Gerassimenko KAZ 1:3 (-10,-7,6,-5)
Monday, November 4th, 2024:
Damen
Nina Mittelham GER – Miwa Harimoto JPN 0:3 (-9,-10,-8)
Jia Nan Yuan FRA – Satsuki Odo JPN 2:3 (-4,-12,9,7,-3)
Joo Cheonhui KOR – Yangzi Liu AUS 3:1 (-4,4,10,10)
Bernadette Szöcs ROU – Suh Hyo Won KOR 3:1 (8,6,-8,10)
Prithika Pavade FRA – Jeon Jihee KOR 3:0 (9,6,1)
Wang Manyu CHN – Orawan Parang THA 3:1 (9,5,-11,6)
Herren
Dang Qiu GER – Marcos Freitas BY 3:1 (-8,7,7,8)
Benedikt Duda GER – Edward Ly CAN 3:0 (7,5,6)
Wang Chuqin CHN – Shunsuke Togami JPN 3:0 (10,3,14)
Nicholas Lum AUS – An Jaehyun KOR 0:3 (-7,10,8)
Jonathan Groth DEN – Truls Moregardh SWE 1:3 (-6,-10,7,-6)
Lin Yun-Ju TPE – Alexis Lebrun FRA 3:2 (5,5,-9,-9,10)
Tuesday, November 5th, 2024:
Damen
Xiaona Shan GER – Elizabeta Samara ROU 2:3 (7,8-6,-5,-11)
Qian Tianyi – Annett Kaufmann GER 3:1 (-5,5,8,9)
Hana Goda EGY – He Zhuojia CHN 1:3 (-2,-1,8,-4)
Adriana Diaz PUR – Sreeja Akula IND 3:0 (3,4,8)
Huang Yi-Hua TPE – Wang Yidi CHN 0:3 (-8,-10,-4)
Herren
Ricardo Walther GER – Alvaro Robles ESP 3:0 (6,10,9)
Liam Pitchford ENG – Dimitrij Ovtcharov GER 3:0 (9,11,9)
Mattias Falck SWE – Lin Shindong CHN 1:3 (-7,-8,10,-7)
Kao Cheng-Jui TPE – Sora Matsushima JPN 1:3 (-6,-8,4,5)
Oh Junsung KOR – Hugo Calderano BRA 0:3 (-8,-7,-7)
Wednesday, November 7th, 2024:
Damen
Miu Hirano JPN – Miwa Harimoto JPN 1:3 (8,-7,-10,-11)
Chen Xingtong CHN – Bernadette Szöcs ROU 3:1 (-6,4,3,5)
Prithika Pavade FRA – Satsuki Odo JPN 0:3 (-3,-8,-3)
Shin Yubin KOR – Adriana Diaz PUR 3:2 (7,-8,-11,8,20)
Herren
Wang Chuqin CHN – Anton Källberg SWE 0:3 (-8,-5,-6)
Ricardo Walther GER – Aruna NGR 3:2 paintings (-9,6,-4,7,10)
Félix Lebrun FRA – An Jaehyun KOR 3:1 (9.5,-7.9)
Lin Yun-Ju TPE – Dang Qiu GER 3:2 (-5,8,6,-7,4)
WTT Champions Frankfurt: Good to know
- Title: WTT Champions Frankfurt
- Location: Süwag Energie ARENA, Frankfurt am Main, Höchst district
- Category: international world-class tournament
- Date: November 3rd to 10th, 2024
- Participants: 32 men and 32 women, the 30 best in the world rankings plus 2 wildcard holders, including many Olympic participants and medalists from Paris
- Game system: Men’s and women’s singles, knockout system from round 1
- Special features: all matches at just 1 table, octagonal center court, the spectators sit close to the action, show program with light effects, dance performances and music acts
- Endowment: 500,000 US dollars (approx. 460,000 euros)
- Tickets from ten (reduced) or 15 euros: online at Reservix.de
- All information on the WTT website
- Votes for the draw
- This is how the family tournament went
- Review of day 1 here
- This is how the second day went
- The results on Monday
- Big emotions on day 3
- This is what volunteers experience at WTT Champions