On Wednesday the quarterfinals in table tennis doubles at the European Championships Munich 2022 took place in the Rudi-Sedlmayer-Halle. With warm temperatures in the building, the German men's duo of Dang Qui and Benedikt Duda faced the Austrians Daniel Habesohn and Robert Gardos. The exciting match started in favor of the opposing team and the Austrian doubles decided the first set in their favor with a clear 8:11. The second match was much more balanced, in the end the Austrians prevailed again and finished the match with 10:12. Thereupon the pressure increased for Germany, because it was clear that if they did not show their performance now, the medal dream would be over.
Despite the rather sparsely populated Audi Dome, the professionals were loudly supported by their fans. With chants like "Let's go, Germany!" or "Fight Germany, fight!", the spectators created a good atmosphere. The few Austrian supporters tried to keep up by cheering for their team. Since the match was not commented, the players could hear every exclamation.
The Germans won the third game of the match with a clear 11:5, and round four also went to Qui and Duda with 11:9. Thus the equalization was achieved. To raise the mood again, an "applause meter" was displayed on the screen. The audience had to clap as loud as possible to make the slider on the display jump from "bad" to "amazing".
In the last part of the table tennis thriller, the German men gave away points due to many mistakes, so that the victory went to Austria with 13:11. Habesohn and Gardos explained in the interview that due to the home European Championships the pressure for the opponents was greater and they could go into the tournament more relaxed.
Directly after the men, the women's quarterfinals started. For Germany Sabine Winter and Nina Mittelham played against the Spanish-Romanian team Maria Xiao and Adina Diaconu. Already at the beginning the Germans were behind. At 9:9 they caught up with their opponents, but they missed the last two points again and lost the first set 9:11. Especially Mittelham made too many mistakes in her attacks and on long balls.
In the second game, Germany showed itself stronger and after more lead changes, Mittelham and Winter finally decided the round 13:11 in their favor. In games three and four, German coach Tamara Boros took frequent timeouts, making the doubles lengthy. The spectators applauded and shouted to the players, but the atmosphere was no longer comparable to that of the men. With 11:8 and 11:7 for the multinational team Xiao/Diaconu the last two games of the match ended. Thus, the Spaniard and the Romanian won with 3:1 sets and deservedly entered the semifinals.
Thus, after the mixed, Germany remained without a medal in the doubles as well. It is the first time since 2003 that there are no Germans on the podium in the pure doubles competitions. But there is still hope in the singles competitions, which will take place in the next few days.
Text & photos: Luisa Peintner