An "announcement to the world table tennis" and a drama
Created: 08/22/2022, 09:44 am
By: Gunter Klein
When nothing works anymore: Nina Mittelham has to fit out of sheer pain in the hitting arm.
© dpa/Sven Beyrich
Dang Qiu wins the European Championship title for Germany, Nina Mittelham cannot finish her final.
Munich – Dang Qiu defeated his famous Düsseldorf team-mate Timo Boll 4-0 in the table tennis quarter-finals – and that was an obligation for him: “Then,” said the 25-year-old from Nürtingen, “I at least want to defend my title”.
He succeeded, one after the other he cleared the Swede Mattias Falck and the Slovenian Darko Jorgic with 4:1 seeds from the plate.
Before his first international final, Dang Qiu had alluded to the titles of his teammates: "We have enough people I can ask how you play a European Championship final."
After all, Dang is 13th in the world rankings.
National coach Jörg Roßkopf referred to him and Benedikt Duda in his prognosis “that gold will only go to a German”.
The old guard around Boll "didn't have the form, so we relied on experience." Dang Qiu had his problems in the second round against Imrahim Gündüz from Turkey.
"He was almost out - the title is a big step for him.
Being the best in Europe is also an announcement to world table tennis.”
The women's Sunday was not so successful.
It was still cheerful on Saturday.
Nina Mittelham had played her way into the final, the moderator in the Rudi-Sedlmayer-Halle said in an interview with her: "That's the silver medal." It didn't come across as he meant it - indignation in the full ranks of the Arena where the 1972 Olympic basketball tournament took place.
But in the end it was all right with the silver: Nina Mittelham was not able to take the determined grip on the European Championship title.
She had to abandon the final after 23 gross minutes, but only eleven minutes net.
"She complained of pain in her hitting arm when she was warming up," said table tennis sports director Richard Prause.
The first set against Sofia Polcanova, who left the tournament with two titles and a bronze medal, was still normal.
9:11 against Mittelham.
After a 2:11, the 25-year-old applied for a break from treatment, returned to the plate and had to pass after one minute and three devious balls.
She went to Polcinova and hugged her, crying.
The Austrian winner couldn't hold back her tears either: "I feel for Nina and I can't find the words that the final ended like this.
On Saturday, Polcinova prevailed in a seven-sentence thriller against Sabine Winter from Schwabhausen, who, like Shan Xiaona (Berlin), received a bronze medal.
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