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He rears up again. Against the impending elimination of the German team in the quarter-finals of the Olympic Games in Paris. Against his departure from the Olympic, indeed from the international table tennis stage in general, which he has helped to shape for decades. “Allez, Timo, allez,” the spectators in the table tennis arena call out incessantly. They don’t want to let him go. “Let’s go Timo, let’s go!” The German team is 0:2 down against Sweden, Boll 1:2 after sets, 8:8 in the fourth set. He fights, he defends himself. But a little later it’s power ball Sweden. “Timo-Timo” calls echo through the arena.

At 10:02 p.m. it happened. Boll lost. It was the farewell of a great German sportsman, the end of an exceptional career. “An outstanding player, the greatest we’ve ever had,” said national coach Jörg Roßkopf. “It was outstanding to work with him. A great man who is leaving the sporting stage.”

Boll, 43 years old, goes to his chair after the last ball and just sits there. Later he will say of this moment: “At first I was just empty, I didn’t know how to behave. It was a new situation. We had also deserved to lose, I was exhausted, helpless, disappointed. Somehow also glad that the feeling of this pressure is over.”

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Last international tournament

The audience finally stands up and moves from applauding the victorious Swedes to bowing to Boll. Standing ovations, never-ending applause. “These were his seventh games, he won two Olympic silver medals and two Olympic bronze medals with the German team, he was at the top of the world rankings three times,” calls the announcer. “We’re talking about Timo…” – then he pauses. “Boll,” the audience adds loudly. No one is sitting down anymore, 6,400 people, including Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf and basketball icon Dirk Nowitzki, are celebrating the 43-year-old German.

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Someone who, despite all his success in a sport dominated by Chinese athletes, never got carried away, who always remained reserved and modest, never pushed himself into the foreground. But now he is right there, in the spotlight, and is being celebrated. Chants ring out again and again. Timo Boll bows. One last lap of honor around the hall, then he leaves.

Boll: “The chants brutally overwhelmed me”

Shortly afterwards, he said in the hall’s catacombs: “It was hard. The disappointment straight after the game, then immediately realising: Now it’s really over with the national team. The chants really overwhelmed me. It was also very nice to get so much feedback from the audience.”

Boll wants to play one more season in the Bundesliga and the Champions League for his club Borussia Düsseldorf until his contract expires in 2025. But this evening marks his retirement from world sport after four Olympic medals, two individual medals at the World Cup and eight European Championship titles. On an evening that ended very differently than hoped for the German team. “Timo’s last game at international level and then a quarter-final exit at the Olympics. That’s just crap,” said Dimitrij Ovtcharov.

Two people who have known and appreciated each other for a long time: Timo Boll (right) is comforted by Dimitrij Ovtcharov READ FULL STORY HERE>>>CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING>>>

Quelle: dpa/Marijan Murat

They had dreamed of a final against China – for the team, but also as a fitting end for Boll, who enjoys great respect in the country of the all-powerful table tennis players. The Chinese studied him, they even copied him: during his career, Boll was sometimes so strong that the Chinese trained Boll imitators who were supposed to perfectly imitate the German’s game.

However, there will be no repeat of the Tokyo final. The Germans missed their chances in the quarter-finals against Sweden. Boll lost the doubles match 0:3 alongside European champion Dang Qiu, while Dimitrij Ovtcharov was beaten 2:3 by the Olympic silver medalist from Paris, Truls Möregardh, in a thrilling duel. Finally, the 43-year-old lost his singles match against Anton Källberg 1:3.

Timo Boll, a great role model

“It was a brutal situation for everyone in the end. Timo is one of the greatest table tennis players of all time, such an incredibly long career at that level,” says a very depressed Ovtcharov. “We all knew: It could happen today, tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. It will be one of these days. It was highly emotional. On the one hand because we lost, and on the other hand because it was Timo’s last game.”

Ovtcharov (35) and Boll have known each other for a long time, almost 20 years. They have often played against each other, often with each other, and have traveled a lot together. “Timo has always helped me and always wished me the best. In addition to the fact that he is a great table tennis player, he is simply a very good person who gives a lot,” says Ovtcharov, and Dang Qiu (27) adds: “He is happy for everyone’s success, no matter how things went for him. I met Timo when he had already won everything, but he remained so down to earth, a great guy, so easy to get along with. A great role model.”

Exit in jubilation: Timo Boll is celebrated as he leaves the hall

Source: AFP/WANG ZHAO

Dirk Nowitzki, another great role model in German sport, watched Boll’s last dance. It was no coincidence – the two are friends, good friends in fact. They have known each other since the 2008 Games, and a close friendship has developed since then. “I was very happy that Dirk was here. He has been to my games a few times, and I have often been to his. The fact that he has now seen my last game is of course great,” says Boll and explains with a grin: “He has been saying for years: ‘Stop it now so we can do a bit more. Now the time has come.’”

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But what exactly is next? Apart from a week-long family holiday, Boll has no specific plans yet. He wants to take some time and rest, clear his head, and try out a few things. “And then I’ll decide which direction I’m going to take,” he says. “When I started my table tennis career, I thought it would probably last until I was in my late 20s, and then I’d train as a banker.” He smiles.

He says he will miss a lot, especially the togetherness. “I was on international tours with Dima for 18 years, Patrick Franziska trained in my basement when he was a little boy. I’ve known the guys for so long, they’re like a little family. And I’m losing them today. It’s really emotional,” says Timo Boll as he says goodbye. “But I’m also really looking forward to spending a lot of time with my family and friends.”

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