Germany’s Dimitrij OVTCHAROV and Sabine WINTER captured the Mixed Doubles title at the LOTTO Thüringen TT-Finals in Erfurt, defeating fellow national team members Patrick FRANZISKA and Nina MITTELHAM 3-2 in a high-quality final played in front of a sold-out crowd.
The newly formed partnership proved successful at the first attempt, overcoming the experienced duo of FRANZISKA and MITTELHAM after five entertaining games.
FRANZISKA and MITTELHAM started strongly and took the opening game, but OVTCHAROV and WINTER gradually found their rhythm, winning the next two games to move ahead. Despite dropping the fourth game, they held their nerve in the decider to secure the title.
For WINTER, the victory marked her first German Mixed Doubles title.
“A German championship title is always special. This is my very first one in mixed doubles, so it means a lot to me,” said WINTER. “It was an honour that Dima asked me to play with him. I immediately said yes. It was a lot of fun and I can still learn a great deal from him.”
OVTCHAROV returned the compliment.
“For me, Sabine is the best female player in the world. The honour is mine,” said the six-time Olympic medallist.
The title also completed a unique national treble for OVTCHAROV, who had previously won German singles and doubles titles.
“It was also my first mixed doubles title. Together with my doubles titles and the singles title I won in 2014, I have now completed the triple, and I’m very happy about that,” said OVTCHAROV.
Mixed Doubles Final
- Dimitrij OVTCHAROV / Sabine WINTER – Patrick FRANZISKA / Nina MITTELHAM 3-2 (6-11, 11-3, 11-9, 6-11, 11-7)
Semi-finals
- Dimitrij OVTCHAROV / Sabine WINTER – Noah HERSEL / Lorena MORSCH 3-0 (11-6, 11-8, 11-4)
- Patrick FRANZISKA / Nina MITTELHAM – Daniel RINDERER / Mia GRIESEL 3-0 (11-8, 12-10, 11-5)
