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Germany’s top doubles pairs are competing for medals at the European Table Tennis Championships in Ljubljana. Both the men’s pairing of Dang Qiu and Benedikt Duda and the German Table Tennis Association’s (DTTB) women’s doubles teams reached the quarterfinals with victories on Wednesday. Another win would guarantee each pair at least a bronze medal.

Former singles European champion Qiu and former silver medallist Duda narrowly avoided a surprise exit with a remarkable comeback. Seeded second, the German pair found themselves trailing 0–2 against the Russian duo of Evgeny Tikhonov and Vladimir Sidorenko, but fought their way back into the match and ultimately won the deciding fifth game without dropping a point. Their next opponents are Swedish Bundesliga players Anton Källberg (Borussia Düsseldorf) and Kristian Karlsson (Borussia Dortmund).

In the women’s doubles, Sabine Winter and Ying Han faced some resistance from Luxembourg’s Ni Xialian and Sarah de Nutte but eventually secured a 3–1 victory. Nina Mittelham and Annett Kaufmann also booked their place in the quarterfinals, earning a deserved 3–1 win over Sweden’s Christina Källberg and Filippa Bergand.

“We knew it would be a difficult and uncomfortable match for us. We had to keep finding our way into the game and adjust our tactics,” top player Winter said after the match. Looking ahead to their next encounter against top seeds Bernadette Szocs and Elizabeta Samara of Romania, she expects “a difficult match for both sides”.

U21 European champions Andre Bertelsmeier and Wim Verdonschot, meanwhile, were unable to secure another victory. The young stars took the lead twice against Moldova’s Vladislav Ursu and Andrei Putuntica but ultimately suffered a clear defeat in the deciding game. The pair had moved into the main draw following Dimitrij Ovtcharov’s withdrawal due to injury.

Source: SID press release
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