Jan 10, 2026
3 min read
Doha.Strong start for German table tennis players in first tournament highlights of 2026: Five of six DTTB aces eliminated to reach round of 16 at top-tier US$500,000 WTT Champions Doha (January 7-11).Defending champion Ying Han was the last player to come to the table on Thursday night and convincingly defended her title against South Korean Lee Yunhee in three sets.He won the first round.A few hours ago, Dmitry Ovtcharov exploded in the afternoon.The former world number one won a top-class five-set thriller against second-seeded World Championship winner Hugo Calderano of Brazil.Dong Qiu, Benedict Duda and Sabine Winter won their opening matches on Wednesday.
Ying Han left only 15 points against the opponent.
Flawless in defense and attack, Yin Han was ranked 31st in the world and he didn't play badly, but there was no luck.Lee Eunhye scored only 15 points.The three-time European Top 16 winner can now look ahead to her round of 16, where she will face Chen Yi on Friday at 17:50 CET - the results open as the world's best defender has one loss and one win against the Chinese in 2025.The first match at Smash Malmö in Europe in August saw him go 3-0 to 8 in the world rankings, but four weeks later at Champions Macao, the German immediately got revenge with a 3-1 win.However, the world number 22 is not under pressure: "I am very happy with my victory today, but tomorrow it will be a completely different game. It is always very difficult against the Chinese, he will learn from losing against me: I will fight, and then I can leave the table as a winner."
Ovtcharov's hopeful start to the year
Dmitry Ovcharov was relieved after a narrow win against the best non-Chinese in the world right now.The 11-7, 5-11, 11-5, 9-11 and 11-9 world number three, world championship runner-up and World Cup winner should begin a successful new chapter in his long career after the 37-year-old Olympic bronze medalist suffered a difficult health and 2025 Games setback.After his success, Ovcharov said: "In 2025, I lost a lot of matches in overtime with top players. So I am especially happy that today I was able to beat Hugo in such a close match with a two-point difference in the deciding set."
Ovcharov turned the game after Calderano already in sight of a space in the round of 16 with a 9-7 lead in the factory medal matches me appointed extra confidence. - Included extra confidence. - Included extra confidence. - Included extra confidence. - Included extra confidence. - Included extra confidence. - Included extra confidence. - Included extra confidence. - Included extra confidence. - Included extra confidence. - Included extra confidence. - Included extra confidence. - Included extra confidence. - Included extra confidence: "The Latt's Right of 16 Match:" OnFriday, it will be easier to win in 35 and 19 hours.
Three more Germans have a chance at the quarter-finals on Friday
The preparation of the 16th for the remaining three Germans was confirmed on Friday.At 9:05 am, Benedikt Duda should be at the table.Seventh in the world rankings, he ended his terrible series against Darko Jorgic (Slovenia), who yesterday impressively beat the European Top 16 three times, challenging the second on the world list, Lin Shidong (China).Number 17 in the world.After the clear victory of Romanian Bernadette Szöcs, Sabine Winter will face Japanese Miyu Nagasaki at 4:40 pm.Dang Qiu, who is currently the best German in the world rankings in tenth place, who defeated the young South Korean star Oh Junsung the day before, will face Olympic bronze medalist Félix Lebrun at 5:15 pm.The Frenchman beat Patrick Franziska, from Saarbrücken, in the first round.
Four more WTT races in January
WTT Champions Doha marks the start of what will again be a rich racing calendar this year.Two days after the final Tournament of Champions meeting, the WTT Star Contender will be held at the same venue in Doha from January 13-18.It will be immediately followed by the WTT Contender Muscat in Oman from January 18-24.In addition, two Feeder events are scheduled in parallel from January 27 to 31 - one in Doha, the other in Lille (France).
The results of the Germans on Thursday
Men's Singles Round 1 (Best of 32)
Dmitry Ovcharov – Hugo Calderano bra 3:2 (7,-5,5,-9,9)
Women's Singles Round 1 (Top 32)
Ying HO – Euny COR 3:0 (7,5,3)
Germany games on Friday
Sabina Kysh - Miyu Nagasaki JPN 16:40
ying Han - Chen Y IC HN 17:50 u HR
Benedikt Duda - Lynn Shindy CHN 9:05 am
Dong Qi - Felix Leblanc from 17:15
Dimitrij Ovtcharov – Lin Yun-Ju TPE 19:35 Uhr
In the results on the WTT page
Live on DYN (free)
The DTB team in Champions Doha
Sabine Chando (TSV Dachau), Ying Han (KTS Tarnobrezeg/Poland)
Dang Qiu (Borussia Düsseldorf), Benedict Duda (TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt), Patrick Franziska (1. FC Saarbrücken-TT), Dimitrij Ovtcharov (TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell)
Tamara Boros (Women's National Coach), Zhu Xiaoyong (DTTB Basic Coach)
