World Championships | 30 Sep 2022

Europeans were not in the mood for charity at the opening day in Chengdu

The opening Round at the 2022 ITTF World Team Championships Finals in Chengdu was successful for main European favorites. In Men’s Teams Event Germany, Sweden and Slovenia recorded their first wins at the Championships.

In Group A, Slovenia beat Puerto Rico 3-1, with Darko JORGIC being the main force behind team’s success. He overcame Daniel GONZALEZ and Brian AFANADOR.

"It is always harder to be a coach and a player, and I am more used to be a player. It is said for us that we are without coach, but what we can do? It was no other opportunity for us, but it is nice to be also the coach to get some experience for the future, “explained JORGIC.

Deni KOZUL overcame AFANADOR as well, before Peter HRIBAR lost his encounter against Angel NARANJO.

“We are happy to win this match. The atmosphere here in China is nice. First matches are always a little bit harder like you are getting used to everything. But I think we did well, and we are happy with our performance. In third match, peter was leasing 1-0 (9-6). It was a little bit pity that he lost the game, but this is team event. Darko fished the game for us with 3-0. At the end, team result is important, so we want to win. Tomorrow we will play against Thailand, and especially since we have Top Ten in our team, we are aiming for the win and fighting match per match, and we will see when it comes,” stated KOZUL.

The leaders in Group 2, Germany overcame Kazakhstan in straight matches. Benedikt DUDA laid the foundation for clear German success in the opening duel. The number 36 in the world managed the decisive break to the important 1-0 lead against the top Kazakh player Kirill Gerassimenko, who is eight places better in the ITTF ranking. After 0 -1 and 0 -4, Benedikt Duda scored 11-1 and equalized against Kirill GERASSIMENKO to 1: 1.

"I met a tough opponent. They have a very good top player to carry games. We did good teamwork today, and I was lucky that I could manage the first win against GERASSIMENKO," said DUDA.

QIU Dang beats Denis ZHOLUDEV without due alarm: "It is a big honor for us to play for the national team. We are all happy that we can represent Germany and we give our best every match, so we can fight and be proud to be Germany."

Ricardo WALTHER beats Alan KURMANGALIYEV: "First matches are always difficult, new conditions, new hall, as everything is new. So we need to get used to it. I think we could manage it somehow today. And now we are happy we won the match."

In the same Group, France also recorded straight matches win with young forces. Brothers Alexis and Felix LEBRUN and Jules ROLLAND succeeded against Uzbekistan.

Alexis LEBRUN beat Abdulaziz ANORBOEV: "It was my first match. I am so excited to play in this competition. I was mainly thinking about how to play. I hope we can continue performing like this in the coming games."

Felix overcame Elmurod KHOLIKOV: "The team spirit is very good. My brother and I had pleasure to play together. So it is very cool."

Jules ROLLAND scored against Shokhrukh ISKANDAROV: "I was nervous in this morning because it is an important match for me. I was less nervous when we did very nice. A year ago, it was impossible to see that I would be here today. So I was so happy. It is an amazing thing. We had a very good experience and performance, it is the most important thing. We have very good team spirits. There is a different generation like Alexis and Felix in our team. They are very young and it is a good experience to play with them."

The leaders in Group 5, Sweden, commenced their journey with the win over Australia. Mattias FALCK beat Dillon CHAMBERS, Kristian KARLSSON succeeded against Finn LUU and Anton KALLBERG beat LEE Yonghun.

The opening Round at the 2022 ITTF World Team Championships Finals in Chengdu was successful for main European favorites. In Men’s Teams Event Germany, Sweden and Slovenia recorded their first wins at the Championships.

In Group A, Slovenia beat Puerto Rico 3-1, with Darko JORGIC being the main force behind team’s success. He overcame Daniel GONZALEZ and Brian AFANADOR.

"It is always harder to be a coach and a player, and I am more used to be a player. It is said for us that we are without coach, but what we can do? It was no other opportunity for us, but it is nice to be also the coach to get some experience for the future, “explained JORGIC.

Deni KOZUL overcame AFANADOR as well, before Peter HRIBAR lost his encounter against Angel NARANJO.

“We are happy to win this match. The atmosphere here in China is nice. First matches are always a little bit harder like you are getting used to everything. But I think we did well, and we are happy with our performance. In third match, peter was leasing 1-0 (9-6). It was a little bit pity that he lost the game, but this is team event. Darko fished the game for us with 3-0. At the end, team result is important, so we want to win. Tomorrow we will play against Thailand, and especially since we have Top Ten in our team, we are aiming for the win and fighting match per match, and we will see when it comes,” stated KOZUL.

The leaders in Group 2, Germany overcame Kazakhstan in straight matches. Benedikt DUDA laid the foundation for clear German success in the opening duel. The number 36 in the world managed the decisive break to the important 1-0 lead against the top Kazakh player Kirill Gerassimenko, who is eight places better in the ITTF ranking. After 0 -1 and 0 -4, Benedikt Duda scored 11-1 and equalized against Kirill GERASSIMENKO to 1: 1.

"I met a tough opponent. They have a very good top player to carry games. We did good teamwork today, and I was lucky that I could manage the first win against GERASSIMENKO," said DUDA.

QIU Dang beats Denis ZHOLUDEV without due alarm: "It is a big honor for us to play for the national team. We are all happy that we can represent Germany and we give our best every match, so we can fight and be proud to be Germany."

Ricardo WALTHER beats Alan KURMANGALIYEV: "First matches are always difficult, new conditions, new hall, as everything is new. So we need to get used to it. I think we could manage it somehow today. And now we are happy we won the match."

In the same Group, France also recorded straight matches win with young forces. Brothers Alexis and Felix LEBRUN and Jules ROLLAND succeeded against Uzbekistan.

Alexis LEBRUN beat Abdulaziz ANORBOEV: "It was my first match. I am so excited to play in this competition. I was mainly thinking about how to play. I hope we can continue performing like this in the coming games."

Felix overcame Elmurod KHOLIKOV: "The team spirit is very good. My brother and I had pleasure to play together. So it is very cool."

Jules ROLLAND scored against Shokhrukh ISKANDAROV: "I was nervous in this morning because it is an important match for me. I was less nervous when we did very nice. A year ago, it was impossible to see that I would be here today. So I was so happy. It is an amazing thing. We had a very good experience and performance, it is the most important thing. We have very good team spirits. There is a different generation like Alexis and Felix in our team. They are very young and it is a good experience to play with them."

The leaders in Group 5, Sweden, commenced their journey with the win over Australia. Mattias FALCK beat Dillon CHAMBERS, Kristian KARLSSON succeeded against Finn LUU and Anton KALLBERG beat LEE Yonghun.