Dimitrij Ovtcharov (russian: Дмитрий Овчаров) or Dmytro Ovtcharov ( uk, Дмитро Овчаров; born 2 September 1988) is a Ukrainian-born German

table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

player. His father Mikhail (or Mikhaylo), a Soviet table tennis champion in 1982, moved his family to Germany shortly after Dimitrij was born. Since 2008, Ovtcharov has won a total of two silver and four bronze medals at the Olympics. Ranked first January to February 2018, he is ranked ninth in the world by the

International Table Tennis Federation The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) is the governing body for all national table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the p ...

(ITTF) as of November 2022.

Career

At the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, Ovtcharov won the

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

as part of the German men's team, together with

Timo Boll Timo Boll (, ; born 8 March 1981) is a German professional table tennis player, who currently plays for Borussia Düsseldorf. He is ranked second in the German Table Tennis National League, and fifteen in the ITTF world rankings as of October 20 ...

and

Christian Süß Christian Süß (born 28 July 1985 in Ahlen, North Rhine-Westphalia) is a German table tennis player. At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Süß won the silver medal as part of the German men's team, together with Timo Boll and Dimitrij Ovtc ...

. He used a special technique in his serves, which was later picked by ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' magazine as one of the top 50 innovations of 2008. On 22 September 2010, Ovtcharov had been suspended by the German Table Tennis Federation (DTTB) due to a positive A-sample test for

Clenbuterol Clenbuterol is a sympathomimetic amine used by sufferers of breathing disorders as a decongestant and bronchodilator. People with chronic breathing disorders such as asthma use this as a bronchodilator to make breathing easier. It is most commonl ...

that may be used as a performance-enhancing substance. Ovtcharov himself denied the doping accusation and requested a B-sample analysis which still tested positive. After hearings and further investigations, the hair sample voluntarily offered by Ovtcharov showed no evidence of clenbuterol and its abuse. DTTB later unanimously decided to cancel the suspension on 15 October 2010. The decision was endorsed by ITTF. At the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, Ovtcharov won bronze medals in singles and team events. In June 2015, he won a gold medal at the inaugural European Games. At the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

, he was defeated by

Vladimir Samsonov Vladimir Samsonov or Uładzimir Samsonaŭ ( be, Уладзімір Віктаравіч Самсонаў, russian: Владимир Викторович Самсонов, born 17 April 1976) is a Belarusian former professional table tennis player ...

in the singles quarter-final. He then won a team bronze medal. In June 2017, he won the title at the China Open against Timo Boll (4 sets to 3), and in August 2017 he won the title at the Bulgaria Open. In January 2018, Ovtcharov became the World's Number 1 Table Tennis Player.

2021

In March, Ovtcharov played in WTT Doha. He won the WTT Contender event and reached the semi-finals of the WTT Star Contender event. Notably, Ovtcharov made several key tactical adjustments to upset

Lin Yun-Ju Lin Yun-Ju ( born 17 August 2001) is a Taiwanese table tennis player.

in the finals after losing to Lin in their previous four encounters. As a result of his performance in Doha, Ovtcharov rejoined the top ten in the world rankings. In June, Ovtcharov played in the European Table Tennis Championships, reaching the finals before losing to his German national teammate Timo Boll. In July, two weeks before the Tokyo Olympics Ovtcharov withdrew from an internal German Olympic Scrimmage due to a leg injury. Ovtcharov won bronze at the Tokyo Olympics in the men's singles event. Ovtcharov reached the finals of the men's team event, earning his record sixth Olympic medal.

Equipment

Ovtcharov is a right-handed player and uses the

shakehand grip Table tennis is unique among racket sports in that it supports a wide variety of playing styles and methods of gripping the racket, at even the highest levels of play. This article describes some of the most common table tennis grips and playing s ...

. He is a

Butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

-sponsored athlete. He uses the Butterfly Ovtcharov Innerforce ALC blade with Butterfly Dignics 09C on his forehand and Butterfly Dignics 05 on his backhand.

Personal life

Ovtcharov married Swedish table tennis player Jenny Mellström in 2013. Their daughter, Emma, was born in 2016.(28 August 2016
"Dimitrij Ovtcharov becomes a father"
ITTF, Retrieved 14 October 2016

Career records

Singles (as of 6 July 2013) *

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

: round of 16 (2008), Quarter-Finals (2016), bronze medal (2012, 2020). *

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

: round of 16 (2009, 2011, 2013, 2017), round of 64 (2015). *

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

appearances: 1st in 2017 5. Record: 5–8th (2008, 09, 10, 11), 3rd (2013, 2015). * World Tour winner (9): 2010

India Open The India Open is an annual badminton event which has been held in India since 2008 and is a BWF World Tour Super 750 international badminton tournament. Its first three editions were designated as Grand Prix Gold events. In 2011, it was upgr ...

. 2011 Brazil Open. 2011 Korea Open. 2012 German Open. 2014 German Open. 2017

. 2017 China Open. 2017 Bulgaria Open. 2017 German Open.
Runner-up (2): 2009 Danish Open. 2010 Polish Open. * World Tour Grand Finals appearances: 9. Record: Runner-up (2014, 2017). *

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

: SF (2007), Runner-up (2020), Winner (2013, 2015). *

Europe Top-12 The Europe Top 16, also known as the Europe Top 16 Cup and previously known as the Europe Top 12, is a table tennis tournament organised annually by the European Table Tennis Union (ETTU), featuring the highest-ranked players in Europe. History ...

: Winner (2012). *

Europe Top-16 The Europe Top 16, also known as the Europe Top 16 Cup and previously known as the Europe Top 12, is a table tennis tournament organised annually by the European Table Tennis Union (ETTU), featuring the highest-ranked players in Europe. History ...

: Winner (2015, 2016, 2017). Doubles * World Championships: round of 16 (2009). * Pro Tour winner (1): 2007 Chinese Taipei Open. * Pro Tour Grand Finals appearances: 1. Record: QF (2007). Mixed doubles * World Championships: round of 64 (2007). Team * Olympics: Silver (2008), Bronze (2012), Bronze (2016), Silver (2020). * European Games: 4th (2015). * World Championships: 2nd (2010, 2012, 2014, 2018). *

World Team Cup The World Team Cup was the international men's team championship of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). The inaugural edition of the tournament was contested in 1975 in Kingston, Jamaica and was called the Nations Cup. No tourname ...

: 3rd (2009, 2011). * European Championships: 1st (2007–2011, 2013, 2017, 2019) 2nd (2014, 2015).

References

External links

*
Dimitrij Ovtcharov at Table Tennis Media
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ovtcharov, Dimitrij 1988 births Living people Sportspeople from Kyiv Ukrainian emigrants to Germany Naturalized citizens of Germany German male table tennis players Olympic table tennis players of Germany Olympic silver medalists for Germany Olympic bronze medalists for Germany Table tennis players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Table tennis players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Table tennis players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Table tennis players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in table tennis Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics World Table Tennis Championships medalists Table tennis players at the 2015 European Games European Games gold medalists for Germany European Games medalists in table tennis