Bergneustädter Benedikt Duda goes to the Table Tennis World Championships in the United States.

But not just for Tuta, but for Americans: for the first time, the US Federation is hosting a major international championship. So, at a press conference on the sidelines of the current warm-up training session in Dசsseldorf, when superstar Timo Paul and national coach J்க்rg Roscope spoke about their experiences of table tennis in the United States, Duda and his teammates had to listen first.

Final days are already sold out

Pol and Roßkopf said that should have increased Duda’s expectations. The Americans were an “enthusiastic spectator”, so to speak, with a smile: “They sometimes roar in the middle of the rally.” And Roscoff said the final days were already sold out: “It’s a great show. A scene with a whole special atmosphere.”

Even Bergneustädter Duda is looking forward to it. For him and his unnamed colleagues like Timo, getting out of the shadow of the German superstars could be another step. Most recently, the team – without Paul and Dmitry Ovtsarov – beat the European team. German No. 3 Patrick Francisca, who also led the team from Duda, told a news conference: “I was happy to be able to show that it works without both of them.”

Bergneustädter Benedikt Duda wants to fulfill a dream

Paul has now returned to Houston, but Dimitri Ovtsarov has not been seen again after a brief ankle surgery. Nevertheless, national coach Roscope ambitiously defined the goal of “playing for medals”. To get out of the shadows, Tuda had to achieve something extraordinary in the singles category, but especially with his regular partner in the doubles, Tong Kieu, who was the last German champion for the fourth time in a row. The 27-year-old has repeatedly suggested that he is capable of this. Most recently during D டுsseldorf training: he lost to Duda, as he told reporters.

After the course, players train on their own before boarding a flight to Houston on November 19th. There, the controls caused by the epidemic will be less than in games in Tokyo or the European team, where players are not allowed to leave the hotel. A dream come true for Tuta after work: “I want to watch a basketball game live in the NBA.”