Liebherr 2019 ITTF World Table Tennis Championships Budapest April 21-28
The 2015 World Championships quarter-finalist Patrick FRANZISKA is ready for the new big challenge at the forthcoming Liebherr 2019 ITTF World Table Tennis Championships Budapest April 21-28. The 26-year-old German travels to Hungary with a lot of confidence bearing in mind his recent achievements: Men’s Doubles silver (with Timo BOLL) at the 2019 Qatar Open and fantastic games in the 2018/19 Bundesliga semi-finals where he was crucial man in Saarbrucken’s win over reigning champion Borussia Dusseldorf. He won all four points against Timo BOLL’s side.
“My current shape is quite good. I haven’t been injured in a while and I played good results lately” stated Patrick FRANZISKA current world no. 18 whose best Men’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles results at World Championships are Round of 16 (Dusseldorf 2017) and Round of 32 (Paris 2013) respectively.
He has big expectations in all three competitions playing alongside Timo BOLL (Doubles) and Petrissa SOLJA (Mixed Doubles).
“It’s always important for me to have a good start. It takes me a little bit time to bring my body to the right temperature so I have to be very focused from the first round. I think Timo (BOLL) and me have a chance to win a medal but it depends also on the draw. We reached a 2nd place in Qatar lately but we won’t be high seeded. In Mixed Petti (SOLJA) and me play better and better each tournament and we could practice a little bit also. I’m looking forward to play in each competition.”
Speaking about strongest medal contenders FRANZISKA stated:
“The Chinese are the favourites. They won every title over the last years and they are still the ones to beat if you want to win a medal. I think Europe has many fantastic players and I see the chance for European players to get medals.”
Regarding younger players capable to make big breakthrough in Budapest?
“We have many younger players especially in Europe who can upset favourites I think. DANG Qiu from Germany for example qualified for his first WCH and I think he can upset some favourites ” responded Patrick FRANZISKA.
