World Championships | 18 Feb 2024

Germany, France, Sweden, and Portugal are undefeated in Busan

At the ITTF World Team Championships in South Korea, Germany, France, Sweden, and Portugal hold the top positions in their respective groups after three days of play.

Topping Group 1, China remains undefeated, with Croatia in the second position after securing two wins in two matches. Tonight, Croatia made a remarkable comeback from 0-2 down to defeat Belgium 3-2. Cedric NUYTINCK and Adrien RASSENFOSSE initially defeated Tomislav PUCAR and Andrej GACINA before Filip ZELJKO's victory against Martin ALLEGRO changed the tide. PUCAR then overcame RASSENFOSSE, and in the decisive match, GACINA defeated NUYTINCK. Hungary is third in the group, followed by Belgium and Cuba.

Germany continues to aim for victory in the group stage in Busan. In Group 2, Dang QIU, Dimitrij OVTCHAROV, and Patrick FRANZISKA won their penultimate group match against Kazakhstan, remaining undefeated at the top of their five-team group. In the Germans' third match, the 27-year-old Kazakh top player, Kirill GERASSIMENKO, proved to be an insurmountable obstacle. The world number 40 defeated both Dimitrij OVTCHAROV (3:1) and Dang QIU, recovering from a 0-2 game deficit in an impressive match starting from the third set. GERASSIMENKO remains unbeaten in five games at the World Championships. However, OVTCHAROV and European singles champion QIU didn't falter in their other two singles matches, comfortably winning in three games each. FRANZISKA, ranked 26th in the world, contributed the third point at position three with two completely untroubled victories.

OVTCHAROV said, "I'm glad we won today. Kirill is playing a great tournament here; he already secured both points against England." Dang QIU also acknowledged Kirill GERASSIMENKO'S performance, saying, "I wasn't bad at all. It was one of those games decided by two points. In the fifth set, I made one or two mistakes that I'm not entirely satisfied with. Everything else was a good, solid game until then. Kirill was really on fire after the 0:2."

In the same group, England lost to the USA after five matches. Below Germany lie Kazakhstan, the USA, England, and Saudi Arabia.

In Group 3, Korea remains undefeated in three matches. Chile is second with only one win in three matches, while Poland is third with one win and one defeat. India and New Zealand are in the lower half of the standings.

In Group 4, France holds the top position. Today, they recorded their third win by defeating Austria. Felix LEBRUN, Alexis LEBRUN, and Simon GAUZY prevailed against Daniel HABESOHN, Robert GARDOS, and Andreas LEVENKO.

Simon GAUZY said, "My tactics weren't always very effective during this match, but I feel like I improved gradually, point by point, and game by game, despite having trouble receiving his serves. In these kinds of situations, you have to dig deep. And that's what I did. I was determined to finish the job, and I succeeded. I fought until the end."

Alexis LEBRUN said, "We didn't have any special training for this championship. We had league matches before, so we played freely in league matches for a week and a half, and then we came to Busan to compete. So, yes, I just continued to play matches."

In the same group, Denmark recorded their first win. They lost to France in the opening match and beat Australia today. Jonathan GROTH overcame both Nicholas LUM and Aditya SAREEN, while Anders LIND prevailed against LUM. France leads the standings, followed by Austria, Denmark, Australia, and Algeria.

Poland recorded their first win in Group 3 after the defeat against Korea. Today they overcame India. Jakub DYJAS beat Sharath Kamal ACHANTA and Harmeet DESAI, while Milosz REDZIMSKI overcame Manav Vikash THAKKAR. DESAI managed to take one point with a victory over Maciej KUBIK.

In Group 5, Japan remains unbeaten at the top position, followed by Czechia, Madagascar, Taipei, and Nigeria.

In Group 6, Sweden reigns as the European champions. Sweden overcame Hong Kong in five matches. WONG Chun Ting beat both Truls MOREGARD and Anton KALLBERG, but LAM Siu Hang could not repeat WONG’s performance against Truls and Anton. Kristian KARLSSON beat HO Kwan Kit.

Truls MOREGARD said, “It was a tough game against Hong Kong. Probably the top opponent in our group, where they have a very strong player number 1 who played very well today. And it was an important match for us.”

Anton KALLBERG said, “I think I ended the first match better than I started. I tried to keep the pressure up and speed up in the match. I am super happy that I could do that.”

Additionally, Serbia caused another upset. After Puerto Rico, Serbia prevailed against Slovakia. Ranked at the bottom of the group and coming to Busan only as a reserve, with two unranked players, Serbia secured their place in the knockout phase. After losing the opening match's fifth point, Zolt PETE of Serbia was forced to withdraw against WANG Yang. However, the World's no. 244 beat all the odds and overcame both Lubomir PISTEJ and WANG Yang. Unranked Marko JEVTOVIC prevailed against Jakub ZELINKA.

“Now we hope that PETE will be fit enough to join us in the knockout phase. Those two victories are beyond our expectations,” said LEVAJAC. Sweden is first, Serbia is second, Hong Kong is third, followed by Slovakia and Puerto Rico.

In Group 7, Slovenia recorded their second win. After defeating Singapore, Slovenia defeated Brazil. Darko JORGIC beat both Guilherme TEODORO and Vitor ISHIY, who also lost to Deni KOZUL. Carlos ISHIDA proved too strong for Peter HRIBAR.

“I am very happy that we already did a great job securing our place at the top of the Group and a place in the Round of 16. We knew how dangerous Singapore could be. At all three positions, they have good players who are able to create significant problems for us. At the end, everything went well, despite the slight advantage they had by playing their second match in the group, while it was only the first for us. It showed in our game, but we stayed focused and calm. I am especially happy that HRIBAR gave us one point at position no. three yesterday,” said Darko.

Continuing with Slovenia’s second adversary – Brazil, Darko added, “It was a good point for us that Hugo is not in their lineup, but nevertheless all three players could create a good match. ISHIY gave us a shaky start by putting great pressure on KOZUL, but Deni prevailed. I posted a comfortable win against TEODORO, but ISHIDA at position no. 3 against HRIBAR put in a very good performance,” explained JORGIC.

In Group 8, Portugal is at the top. Today they recorded their third win against Egypt. Marcos FREITAS beat Youssef ABDEL-AZIZ and Omar ASSAR. ASSAR beat Joao GERALDO, and Tiago APOLONIA prevailed against Mohamed EL-BEIALI.

Romania is in the second position with one defeat against Portugal. Today they overcame Thailand. Ovidiu IONESCU beat Padasak TANVIRIYAVECHAKUL and Sitisak NUCHCHART. Sitisak beat Darius MOVILEANU, while Andrei ISTRATE secured the third point for Romania by defeating Napat THANMATHIKOM. Iran, Egypt, and Thailand are below the two European teams.