Table tennis | The WTT Champions in Frankfurt are a great opportunity

In the end, it might have been a good idea after all. A few years ago, the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) devised a new competition format, similar to tennis, that sends the best players around the world to collect prize money and world ranking points. This series is called WTT, World Table Tennis, and is divided into several levels: there are tournaments in the categories Feeder, Contender, Star Contender, up to the WTT Champions and Grand Smashes.

It all started in 2021, and the idea is gradually beginning to bear fruit. While there have been occasional empty halls in exotic locations, filled with the lonely cheers of coaches, things have really taken off, especially since the impressive WTT Champions tournament in Montpellier last Sunday, where Sabine Winter of TSV Dachau reached the final. This applies to the broadcasts as well as the live events in the hall: spectators are treated to thrilling sport that captivates them .

China criticizes and is missing

The final WTT Champions tournament of the year has been underway in Frankfurt am Main since Tuesday, before the grand final featuring the 16 best players takes place in Hong Kong in December. The world's table tennis elite are meeting in the Frankfurt Arena for the third time, following appearances in 2023 and 2024. This time, however, several top players are missing, including defending champion Lin Shidong – and with the world number one absent, the entire Chinese team is also missing. This is a significant disappointment for the German hosts. But other priorities are taking precedence, even against the scheduling guidelines of the World Table Tennis Federation: the national championships are being held in China at the same time. Olympic champion Fan Zhedong, who now plays for 1. FC Saarbrücken, is also competing there – he hasn't been seen at the WTT for quite some time.

It was the Chinese who surprised everyone with their criticism of the world federation – with the consequence that, in addition to Fan, veteran Ma Long and Olympic champion Chen Meng have now completely withdrawn from the sport. The world federation has reacted and adjusted the rules: Players now also have the option of taking a break from high-level tournaments. The WTT Champions in Frankfurt is thus a casualty of the new regulation.

German opportunities

Fewer Chinese players also increase the chances of a home victory in Frankfurt. One candidate is Dang Qiu from Düsseldorf. He recently won the "Star Contender" in London, and in Montpellier he only lost in the quarterfinals to the eventual tournament winner, Truls Möregardh. Benedikt Duda, currently the best German player, was also considered a contender, but he lost on the first day of the tournament to Japan's Shunsuke Togami. Dimitri Ovcharov is also still in the running. And: At least one German will reach the quarterfinals, as Dang Qiu and Patrick Franziska played for a place in the quarterfinals on Thursday evening (editor's note).

The German women have a better chance of success. They are reigning European team champions, boast a confident Winter, who won the Near Champions tournament, and the rising star Annett Kaufmann in their ranks. However, where the formidable Chinese team is absent, the strong Japanese and the almost equally talented South Koreans are still in the mix. Asian dominance in women's table tennis is considerably greater than in men's. We'll see how far the best European player gets this time. The Romanian Bernadette Szocs, who long held this position, has already been eliminated in Frankfurt. Winter, on the other hand, won her first-round match 3-0 against the Portuguese player Fu Yu on Thursday afternoon.

French brothers and a tired Brazilian

The men's field is broader at the top, with several favorites. Möregardh, Montpellier champion and Europe Smash winner, would be the first to mention. He faced his compatriot and friend Anton Källberg in the first round on Thursday. But what was a semifinal last year ended this time with a victory for Källberg. The Lebrun brothers, Felix and Alexis from France, are also considered strong contenders in Frankfurt.

And then there's the Brazilian Hugo Calderano, who has recently experienced setbacks but was a sensational winner at the World Cup in the spring. However, he too, known for his tics between rallies, has already voiced some mild criticism of the WTT circuit in Frankfurt. "There have been a lot of tournaments this year, we're all a bit tired," he admitted after his hard-fought opening victory against the South Korean Jang Woojin.