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Han Ying at the World Team Championships in Chengdu/China
Photo: STR/AFP
The German women's table tennis team lost the World Cup semi-final against Japan.
Despite strong resistance, Ying Han (KTS Tarnobrzeg), Nina Mittelham and Xiaona Shan (both TTC Berlin Eastside) lost 3-0 to the silver medalists of the Olympic Games on Friday and missed their first final since 1939.
The team of national coach Tamara Boros had already secured the bronze medal in Chengdu, China, since third place at a world championship is not played separately.
It's the biggest World Cup success for the German women since 2010. "Basically, we're very happy with bronze," said 25-year-old Mittelham.
"But if you see how the game went today, I would have been happy if we had made it to the final."
The second in the European Championship forced the fifth in the world rankings, Hina Hayata, to start the fifth set.
Mittelham lost it 8:11 after an 8:5 lead.
Han then had no chance at 0: 3 against the mixed Olympic champion Mima Ito.
The third point for the favorites was won by 18-year-old Miyuu Kihara against Shan, who was 21 years her senior, in the fifth set (3:2).
In the final, the Japanese will meet China, who have been extremely dominant in the tournament so far.
At the last event in 2018, these two teams were at the top - with the better end for China.
The German men are also in the semi-finals after beating France 3-2 after trailing 2-0.
There they meet South Korea.
mfu/dpa