Table tennis World Cup in Doha: Austria's elite in front of tricky duels!

Table tennis World Cup in Doha: Austria's elite in front of tricky duels!

Doha, Katar - The World Table Tennis Championship will take place from Saturday, May 17th, 2025, in Doha, Qatar. 21 years after the first discontinuation in the Middle East, the city is again a top -class host of this important sporting event. The participation of the athletes is based on the world rankings, and four players compete from Austria: Sofia Polcanova, Daniel Habesohn, Andreas Levenko and Robert Gardos.

Polcanova, who has already lost three times against the Chinese world ranking Sun Yingsha this year, has a challenging lot in the first round. She meets the Thai woman Orawan Paranang and needs a total of three wins up to the round of 16. The 27-year-old has had a 3: 4 in the first World Cup round in the past and is now aiming for a better balance. Her recent break after intensive competitions such as the Olympic Games and the European Championship has apparently done her well, as she emphasized.

Austria's opening battle

The draws are also demanding for the other Austrians. Levenko plays against the Swedes Truls Moregard, currently number 7 in the world rankings, while Habeshn has to face the German Dimitrij Ovtcharov (21st place). Gardos meets Cedric Nuytinck from Belgium.

in the mixed double plays Polcanova with Gardos against the Serbian duo Izabela Lupulesku and Dimitrije Levajac, while she will compete against Mubanga Kunda and Latifa Nalavwe from Zambia in the women's double. Here Polcanova and Szöcs could hope for a revenge against the duo Matelova/Balazova, against which they were only fifth at the last World Cup 2023 in Durban.

The challenge for Habesohn and Levenko

Daniel Habesohn has had a less successful season, but was able to reach the semifinals of the Europe Cup. He announced that he moved to the German Bundesliga after the World Cup in Bad Königshofen and would like to reduce its international missions to avoid stress. At the same time, he expressed that motivation and enthusiasm are crucial for his increase in performance. Habsohn also criticized the ÖTTV President and the sports director, but sees positive developments after the new elections.

The World Cup is not only a highlight for the players, but also for the fan base of sport. The dominance of the Chinese players is a considerable challenge, after all, since 2005 all individual world championship titles have gained in the women's and men's category by Chinese athletes. An outstanding example is the defending champion Sun Yingsha, who won five of the last WTT tournaments.

The World Cup appointments extend from May 17th to 25th, 2025. The Focus of the Austrian athletes is on good performances to better position themselves for future international challenges. The players endeavor to build on the performance of previous years and maybe even start the succession of the Chinese.

[Laola1 reports that] (https://www.laola1.at/de/Red/sport-mix/MeiTischtennis/tischtennis ---oettv-elite-bei-doha-wm-mit-kniffigen-auflosen/). ÖTTV informs about the demands and the pressure to which the athletes are exposed. The comprehensive information on the history and the previous World Cup events can be found [on Wikipedia] (https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/tischtennis World Championship).