World Championships | 23 Feb 2024

OVTCHAROV after defeat in Busan: Better it happens here than in Paris

In the final of the Women’s event at the 2024 ITTF World Championships Final in Busan, China will play against Japan for the gold. In the semifinal of the Men’s event, China will meet Korea and France will meet Taipei.

Today, in the semifinal of the Women’s event, Japan overcame Hong Kong in straight matches, whilst China halted France on their way to the ultimate stage.

In the Men’s event, the remaining two quarterfinals were on the program. Korea overcame Denmark, whilst Taipei prevented Germany's men's team from winning the 13th World Championship medal in the 98-year history of table tennis World Championships.

"You don't experience such a game often! Losing 0:3 sounds catastrophic, but we weren't far from winning 3:0 today," said Dimitrij OVTCHAROV. "This experience grounds us and will help us to go into the tournament even sharper and more attentive at the Olympics in Paris."

The record Olympic medalist added, "We haven't experienced a defeat like this in the last 15 years. It's really bitter that it happened at a World Championship. But better it happens here than in Paris."