Hosts and second seeds Germany booked their place in the men’s final at the world team table tennis championships with a 3-1 win over Japan in Saturday’s semi-final. In front of a 10,000 crowd at Dortmund’s Westfalenhallen, Dimitrij Ovtcharov gave the Germans the lead with victory over Japan’s Jun Mizutani as he dominated in a 11-7, 15-13, 13-11 win.
Germany’s top player, Timo Boll recorded another straight games win to beat Koki Niwain 11-5, 11-7, 11-9.
The Japanese hit back thanks to Seiya Kishikawa’s four-game win over Patrick Baum for a 11-9, 11-6, 5-11, 13-11 victory, but Boll stepped in to beat Mizutani 11-6, 11-8, 13-11 to put the Germans in the final.
In Sunday’s final, the Germans will face either defending champions China or South Korea, who meet in Saturday’s other semi-final.
In the women’s competition, defending champions Singapore will face China in Sunday’s final in a repeat of the 2010 tournament finale.
Singapore reached the final after a dramatic 3-2 semi-final win over South Korea on Saturday. Kim Kyung Ah put South Korea ahead as she came back from 2-1 down against Feng Tianwei before dominating matters in the fourth game then securing a 10-12, 15-13, 9-11, 11-1, 11-7 victory. Singapore’s Wang Yuegu made it 1-1 when she also went to five games to beat Seok Ha Jung 11-7, 9-11, 9-11, 12-10, 11-6, before Li Jiawei was demolished 13-11, 11-5, 11-6 by South Korea’s Dang Ye Seo.
Singapore’s Feng Tianwei bounced back from her earlier defeat to beat Seok Ha Jung 11-5, 11-3, 9-11, 11-8 in the fourth game to make it 2-2.
In the deciding match, Singapore’s Wang Yuegu held her nerve for a tense 11-7, 10-12, 7-11, 11-6, 11-9 over Kim Kyung Ah to put her team in the final where they face China, who had few problems as they saw off Hong Kong 3-1 in the other semi.
China’s star player and world number one Ding Ning was rarely tested in her 11-9, 11-4, 11-4 win over Jiang Hujun.
Tie Jana put Hong Kong level when she beat Li Xiaoxia over four games, but China’s Yan Guo and Li Xiaoxia saw off Hong Kong’s Yu Kwok See and Jiang Huajun respectively over three games to put the Chinese in the final.
The world championships doubles as an Olympic qualifier with London places up for grabs for the highest-ranked nation from each of the six continents.
Top seeds China and hosts Germany booked their places in Saturday’s semi-finals of the men’s world team table tennis championships by recording commanding last eight victories.
China’s Zhang Jike, Ma Lin and Ma Long showed Austria no mercy in Friday’s quarter-final as the defending champions romped to a 3-0 victory while Germany also blasted past Sweden with a clean-sweep.
For a place in Sunday’s final, the Germans will now play Japan, who beat Singapore 3-1 in their quarter-final, while China take on South Korea, who beat Taiwan 3-1 in the last eight.
“We are happy to have a 3-0 win, but it will be tense against Japan,” said Germany’s Timo Boll.
During the team semi-finals at the Beijing Olympics, Germany dug deep to beat the Japanese 3-2 before losing the final to China 3-0 and Boll said he had strong memories of the semi-final four years ago.
“That was the most emotional moment in my career,” he said. “Japan are another calibre. Jun Mitsutani is very strong, he has extremely good serves. “They have a good team spirit and are really hard to beat.”
In the women’s competition, China romped into the last four with a clinical 3-0 win over Poland, while Hong Kong also blitzed the Netherlands by the same margin and will meet the Chinese in Saturday’s semi-finals
An astounding recovery by Kim Kyung Ah clinched victory for South Korea against Japan as she sealed a 3-2 win over Kasumi Ishikawa with a battling display. “I am very happy and tired,” said Kim Kyung Ah, whose team will now meet defending champions Singapore in Saturday’s other semi-final after they knocked the Germans out with a 3-2 victory.
“It was a very tough match but when we won the third game, we knew we can make it.” The world championships doubles as an Olympic qualifier with London places up for grabs for the highest-ranked nation from each of the six continents.