Germany’s women will play against India in the Olympic tournament in Paris on Wednesday (10 AM) for a place in the semifinals. Without injured top player Nina MITTELHAM veteran Xiaona SHAN and debutants Annett KAUFMANN and Yuan WAN defeated the USA team in a round of 16 thriller with a 3-2 victory. In her Olympic debut 18-year-old German champion Annett KAUFMANN became the match winner winning both her singles matches. This evening at 8 PM Germany’s men’s team will face European champions Sweden in a quarterfinal rematch of the European Championship final in Malmö 2023 at South Paris Arena 4.
The Germany team fought their way into the quarterfinals of the Olympic Games with an impressive 3-2 victory over the USA in the round of 16 despite facing numerous challenges. The fourth-place team from Tokyo 2020 and silver medalists from Rio 2016 who already had to cope without defensive artist Ying HAN (Achilles tendon tear) before the Summer Games also had to do without world No. 17 Nina MITTELHAM who was injured in the singles tournament in Paris. All three players contributed to the victory with debutants Annett KAUFMANN and Yuan WAN making decisive impacts against the North Americans.
National coach Tamara Boros was relieved after the success: “Nina’s injury was the next shock for us after we already had to travel without Ying. But we knew that we still had a good team and a chance against the USA. It was a 50:50 game but we had no pressure. I’m really happy we made it today. This whole year has been very very difficult for us due to many injuries in the team. We are playing here without our number one and two players. We have no pressure anymore but we have to fight for every point and show good team spirit. We achieved that today. Now we can enjoy the Olympics a little longer and will never give up.”
Annett KAUFMANN just 18 years old became the match winner in the duel against the USA. Placed in the top position by national coach Tamara BOROS the European champion in all youth categories delivered an impressive and perfect Olympic debut with two victories. In her first singles match she didn’t lose a game to US top player Lily ZHANG securing Germany’s 2-0 lead. Later she kept her nerves in the decisive fifth game against Rachel SUNG winning in four games after losing the first one.
Annett KAUFMANN could hardly put her emotions into words after the match: “I am overwhelmed by my emotions. It feels a bit like a dream: the hall the fans from all over the world my name being called out. Plus the girls on the bench cheering me on. It’s crazy! In the end I was the only one playing in this hall as all the other matches had finished. It was an incredible atmosphere that I have never experienced in my 14 years of playing table tennis.”
Regarding the decisive singles match Kaufmann said: “I was very nervous in the first set. I don’t often play against other left-handers and don’t always enjoy it. She played a bit awkwardly for me. I then focused more on the tactics and tried to stay varied which allowed me to take the lead. But she fought back. Tamy (coach Tamara BOROS) and the girls gave me confidence and assurance. Without them I wouldn’t have been as good.”
DTTB Women Face India for a Spot in the Semifinals on Wednesday.
