World Table Tennis Team Championships - Germany Repeat 2010 Success by Reaching Final

Germany are the first team to progress to the finals stage of the 2012 Leibherr World Table Tennis Team Championships. An absolutely amazing performance from Germany was put on show for the 11,000+ fans which gathered to support the host team in their endeavours to repeat their finals appearance of the last WTTC team event. To achieve that they had to first get past a determined and highly skilled Japan, led by World Number 6 Jun Mizutani.

Undefeated, Timo Boll leads Germany to 2012 WTTC Final
Image Courtesy of ITTF

The opening match would be between Dimitrij Ovtcharov and Jun Mizutani. On the occasions they have clashed, the Japanese superstar had a 100% win record, a reason to go into the match with confidence. Ovtcharov soon wiped that confidence off the slate. Performing some very unorthodox techniques and suprise setplays, Ovtcharov demonstrated absolute commitment to his tactics and to 3rd ball attacks. His form was undeniable and the prevailing 3 set match, in which Ovtcharov for the first time defeated Mizutani, was recorded at the World Championships. Germany took the lead 1-0.

Timo Boll took the helm for Germany next, much to the joy of the crowd. His opponent, the speedy rising Japanese prodigy, Koki Niwa. At the tender age of 17 and already a fixture in the world's top 20 men, he posed a real threat. Not a threat which Timo would be taking too seriously though. Following suit from Ovtcharov's brilliant performance, Timo dominated rallies and controlled the match in its entirety. He won in just 3 sets. Only a small amount of time had passed but already Germany were 2-0 up and on the brink of potential victory.

Patrick Baum would be the third player to step up for Germany. He would face Seiya Kishikawa. Both players had struggled in part so far in the tournament. Patrick had had 2 5 set close encounters with Petr Korbel of Czech Republic and Pete Zolt from Serbia. Kishikawa on the other hand had lost both of his matches and been largely responsible for the ensuing 3-2 loss of Japan to Poland in the group stage and had spent the rest of the tournament on the bench. He was out to prove a point and it showed. He took the first two sets with close margins and looked to be on top of things. Baum pulled back a set after gaining quite a sizeable lead, but in the end it was Kishikawa who redeemed himself and scored a point for Japan.

With Germany leading 2-1, Timo Boll was back out on the table. This time the clash would be between the top players, a common occurance for the 4th match of the round so far this WTTC. Boll has been on incredible form so far this WTTC and showed no sign of slowing down. In a surprising turn the crowd celebrated the outstanding skill of Timo Boll as he held his own and left Mizutani far behind. Repeating the performance of Dimitrij Ovtcharov it was a 3-0 victory for Timo and as a result, a 3-1 win for Germany.

Germany advance to the finals and you can't help but start wondering what kind of a threat the Germans may impose upon the expected winners of the other semifinal, China. It's not final however and Korea will certainly be looking to make an impression against the defending champions. Germany had advanced to the semifinal without losing a match, for China it is identical, these are definitely the two greatest teams in the world and would make an ideal final.

Amazing: TTCountenance has already uploaded the first match 

between Mizutani and Ovtcharov!