Jörg Roßkopf had reason to celebrate even before the final of the Table Tennis World Championships: "Final Sunday at the World Championships in Chengdu, and Germany is still in it, it's absolutely amazing," announced the men's national coach after his team's 3-2 semi-final victory against South Korea on Saturday.

As expected, the towering favorite and defending champion China confidently asserted themselves 3-0 in the final, but the men's silver medal was indeed a spectacular success, and the outstandingly good performance of the German Table Tennis Association (DTTB) was rounded off by the fact that the DTTB -Ladies with bronze also won a medal.

In order to understand why Roßkopf reacted so enthusiastically after his team reached the final, you have to know: In the 96-year history of the team World Cup, the German men had made it to the final six times, four times in the Timo Boll era alone.

But record European champion Boll was not in the German squad in Chengdu, and with him, Dimitrij Ovtcharov and Patrick Franziska the trio that had ensured almost all major German successes at World and European Championships and Olympic Games in recent years was missing.

Although some stars from other associations had also canceled their start for this World Cup, no other team was missing the three strongest players.

Shooting star Dang Qiu, who attracted attention by winning the European Championship at the end of August, became the new leading player, Benedikt Duda, Ricardo Walther, European youth champion Kay Stumper and Fanbo Meng were his comrades-in-arms.

A brave decision

Giving the convalescent Boll and Ovtcharov the chance to build up their form at home in peace until the Olympic Games, and also leaving the young father Franziska, who also had a training backlog, with his family, was a courageous decision.

“We took a risk with the nomination.

If we drop out in the preliminary round, there will be a lot of criticism,” explained DTTB President Claudia Herweg.

“But since being nominated, this team has shown a belief that is unique.

That's team spirit."

The team also needed that belief.

Already in the preliminary round, after a defeat against India, the end was threatened, but in the decisive game the Germans defeated France 3:1.

As group runners-up, the DTTB selection got a rewarding task in the round of 16 with Croatia, which they solved 3:0.

But already in the quarter-finals - again against the highly rated France - Roßkopf's team was again on the verge of being eliminated: 2-0 down, World Cup debutant Kay Stumper brought Germany back into the game with a 3-1 win over Jules Rolland, followed by Dang Qiu and Benedikt Duda then secured the 3-2 win.

These two scored again in the semi-final against South Korea with Germany trailing 1:2 - in this game Duda from Bergneustadt was the outstanding man with two wins.

Only in the final against China were fighting spirit and morale not enough to create a sensation.

For years it has been questionable what the future of German men's table tennis will look like after Boll (41 years old), Ovtcharov (34) and Franziska (32).

Jörg Roßkopf knew exactly: "We have a problem because we have such a strong generation that the players behind them only get a few assignments."

For the players from the second row, this World Cup was a great opportunity to prove themselves, and the national coach praised: "The boys here accepted the fight from the start.

They knew exactly that if they left early, they would write at home: The second suit doesn't fit, Boll, Ovtcharov and Franziska have to be there."

The DTTB had already renounced its stars Ovtcharov and Boll at the 2021 European Team Championships so that the players behind them could also gain match practice at an important tournament.

The team that put their trust in Roßkopf thanked him with the European Championship title.

The then successful team included Dang Qiu and Duda, while Stumper, who was 18 at the time, sat on the bench to study.

At the Team World Championships in Chengdu, these three took the next step.

Remarkable: After strong performances, the German women also won their bronze medal - the first World Championship medal win for the DTTB women in twelve years - without Petrissa Solja, the 2021 European champion, who was missing due to back problems.

Like the DTTB men, the women had won their quarterfinals 3:2 after being 0:2 behind and a big fight against South Korea, and in the 0:3 in the semifinals against Japan they lost two of the three games by the narrowest of margins.

Dang Qiu also said: "Germany should never be underestimated, no matter which team we come with.

We are such a strong table tennis nation, Germany has a long table tennis history.

We have a very strong squad."

Or, to put it another way: The second suit fits.