Germany's table tennis women are returning from Tokyo after 2016 without the hoped-for second Olympic medal.

Han Ying, Petrissa Solja and Shan Xiaona were beaten 1: 3 against Hong Kong in Tokyo on Thursday in the bronze medal match.

The victory in the opening doubles for Solja and Shan was far too little for the three seeded selection.

The team of national coach Jie Schöpp clearly missed their desired crowning conclusion of these summer games.

The men around individual bronze medalist Dimitrij Ovtcharov want to do better on Friday (12.30 p.m. CEST in the FAZ live ticker for the Olympics, on ARD and on Eurosport) and even improve their entry into the finals.

Opponents in the final, however, are the almost unbeatable Chinese.

Ovtcharov, Timo Boll and Patrick Franziska nevertheless stated that they did not want to be satisfied with silver.

The gold medal is the goal.

Han, Solja and Shan had the same line-up in Rio de Janeiro five years ago when they won an Olympic gold medal for the first time for the German table tennis women.

Only the outstanding Chinese women stopped them in the final.

One day after the clear 0: 3 against China in Tokyo, the three seeded selection by Schöpp could not withstand the pressure. The duel with Hong Kong seeded four started successfully. Solja and Shan had start-up problems, but only gave the first sentence. With 15:13 the duo made the win against Lee Ho Ching and Doo Hoi Kem perfect in the fourth round.

The fact that it didn't work out with the desired bronze was due to the fact that far too little came together afterwards. Han Ying's defensive style was not enough in the 1: 3 against Soo Minnie. Solja, who comes from Rhineland-Palatinate, was able to beat the two places in front of her in the world rankings -15. Doo couldn't do anything and couldn't win a set. Shan couldn't lose if her team stayed in the game. In the quarter-finals against South Korea, the 38-year-old had secured the decisive point despite all the nervousness - this time the game ended with her defeat against Soo Minnie.

"A medal would be unbelievable," the native Chinese and quarter-finalist in singles, Han Ying, had previously said. “The medal five years ago is not in my head. We're fighting for a new one, ”were her words. But this time Han, Shan (both 38 years old) and Solja (27) only got the ungrateful fourth place.