At the table tennis Grand Smash tournament in Singapore, all three German players were eliminated in the quarterfinals. One day after his victory against China’s top talent Lin Shidong, the 43-year-old record European champion Timo Boll (Borussia Düsseldorf) lost in 3:4 sets against the world team champion Liang Jingkun (China) after another strong performance.
European individual champion Dang Qiu (Borussia Düsseldorf) lost 1:4 to world number two Wang Chuqin (China). Patrick Franziska’s winning streak ended against Lin Yun-Ju from Taiwan (1:4). The 31-year-old from 1. FC Saarbrücken had previously defeated Olympic champion Ma Long (China) and his German national team colleague Dimitrij Ovtcharov.
The Grand Smashs were introduced in table tennis in 2021 and are intended to have a similar meaning to the four Grand Slam competitions in tennis. They are the most important tournaments of the year. The only European in the semi-finals in Singapore is 17-year-old Frenchman Felix Lebrun.
