Table tennis world championship: Timo Boll becomes the oldest individual medal winner

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Timo Boll

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Manfred Schillings / imago images / MaJo

In the end, every blow hurt.

Timo Boll struggled, fought - and was rewarded.

"I didn't know if I should quit," said the 40-year-old, who made history by making it to the semi-finals of the World Table Tennis Championships in Houston.

Restricted by an abdominal muscle strain, the Düsseldorf-based man beat the American Kanak Jha 4-2 in the quarter-finals, securing his second World Cup medal after 2011.

At 40 years and 264 days, Boll is now the oldest individual World Cup medalist since the first edition in London in 1926.

Former Hungarian world champion Zoltán Mechlovits held the previous age record for 92 years.

When he won the title in 1928, he was 37 years old.

A year later he came back to bronze.

"The hardest part was feeling the constant pain and still keeping my thoughts clear," said Boll.

"I just wanted to fight to the end, try everything and not blame myself for not giving everything in the quarter-finals."

Table tennis player wins World Cup medal at 58

Against the US-American, Boll went into the match already battered, after a high error rate and a quick first set loss, the Düsseldorf-based player found himself better and better in the game.

"Timo is a fighter," said national coach Jörg Roßkopf.

Boll made the semi-finals and the safe bronze medal perfect with a 11: 7 in the sixth set.

"At some point the pain didn't go away - but the adrenaline helps," says Boll.

The former world number one is the second German with at least two individual World Cup medals.

“Mr.

Pokerface «In 1965 and 1967, Eberhard Schöler made it onto the World Cup podium of the individual competition three times with bronze and 1969 in silver.

Swede Truls Möregardh (19), who is not half his age, is waiting for Boll in the semi-finals on Monday night (1.50 a.m. CET).

Möregardh already eliminated the German team championship winner Patrick Franziska.

“It won't be easy, you won't be able to magic the pain away.

But I'll find my way again, ”said Boll.

To win a World Cup medal for Luxembourg at the age of 58 - this was the achievement of the indestructible Xia Lian Ni.

Together with her partner Sarah De Nutte, who was exactly half her age, the exceptional player, who was born in China, made it to the semi-finals of the doubles competition late on Saturday evening.

After their 3-0 win against Archana Girish Kamath and Manika Batra from India, it is now against the Chinese top favorites Wang Manyu and Sun Yingsha.

Bronze is safe for the duo, because a third place at a World Cup is not specially played out.

"A great moment in Luxembourg table tennis" is what the national association FLTT calls it on its website.

Xia Lian Ni is a phenomenon.

As early as 1983 she became team world champion with her native China.

In 1989 she moved to Luxembourg, first moving to Bayer 05 Uerdingen in the German Bundesliga, before playing in her new adopted home after a year: in a men's team, mind you.

She has competed internationally for Luxembourg since 1991.

In 1998 and 2002 she won the individual championship title.

Her last World Championship medal was more than 36 years ago when the doubles tournament began in Houston.

In 1985 she won silver in this competition - for China.

mey / ara / sid / dpa