Timo Boll (, ; born 8 March 1981) is a German professional
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, 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 2022. Boll ranks among the best German table tennis players of all time, having ranked world No. 1 in 2003, 2011 and in March 2018.
Childhood
Boll was born in
Erbach im Odenwald
Erbach () is a town and the district seat of the Odenwaldkreis (district) in Hesse, Germany. It has a population of around 13,000.
Geography
Location
The town lies in the ''Mittelgebirge'' Odenwald at elevations between 200 and 560 m in t ...
,
Hessen
Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are Darm ...
. Boll started playing at age 4, and was coached at the time by his father. In 1987, he became a member of TSV Höchst. At age 8, he was discovered by Helmut Hampel, a
Hessian
A Hessian is an inhabitant of the German state of Hesse.
Hessian may also refer to:
Named from the toponym
*Hessian (soldier), eighteenth-century German regiments in service with the British Empire
**Hessian (boot), a style of boot
**Hessian f ...
trainer who promoted him. In 1990, he started to train at the training centre
Pfungstadt
Pfungstadt is a town of 25,029 inhabitants (2020), in the district of Darmstadt-Dieburg in the state of Hesse, Germany.
History
The town was first mentioned in 785 as property of the Monastery of Lorsch and got its town rights in 1886 due to its ...
and four years later changed teams to with whom he took part in the Second Division, at which time he attracted the attention of other table tennis associations. recruited him in 1995, a move which required the entire team to relocate 170 km away, to
Höchst, to enable daily training with the then 14-year-old Boll. Boll was placed in position five on the team, but lost only one match throughout the whole season. This contributed to the team's transition to the table tennis national league's Tischtennis-Bundesliga (First Division).
Career
Junior success
At age 14, Boll held the title of youngest player in the national league (A title he shared with Frank Klitzsch). He celebrated his first international success during the
Table Tennis European Youth Championships
The European Youth Table Tennis Championships are held among cadets (under 15) and juniors (under 18). The first edition of the tournament was held in 1955 in Stuttgart and since then is held yearly in most cases.
Currently, the championships inc ...
in
The Hague
The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...
in 1995, where he won three gold medals. In 1996, he was a runner up in the Junior Boys Singles of that same competition, but then went on to win the singles title in 1997 and 1998, as well the doubles title in 1998. He finished school with a secondary school level I certificate.
Early International success (2002–2003)
In 2002, Timo Boll became the first German player to win the
Europe-Top-12-Tournament beating
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 final. Boll also became the best German player, according to the
ITTF Rankings, overtaking
Jörg Roßkopf
Jörg Roßkopf (born May 22, 1969 in Dieburg, Hesse) is a former professional German table tennis player who is currently the head coach of the German Men's National Table Tennis Team. As a player, he won the title in Men's Doubles at the 1989 Wo ...
. During the
European Table Tennis Championships
The European Table Tennis Championships is an international table tennis competition for the national teams of the member associations of the European Table Tennis Union (ETTU). First held in 1958, the ETTU organised the European Championships ever ...
in
Zagreb
Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...
, Boll won both the singles and the doubles with
Zoltan Fejer-Konnerth
Zoltan Fejer-Konnerth (born 20 July 1978) is a male former international table tennis player from Germany.
He won a silver medal at the 2004 World Team Table Tennis Championships in the Swaythling Cup (men's team event) with Timo Boll, Jörg Ro ...
. The German team featuring Boll was defeated in the final by the Swedish team with a score of 2–3. With his victory in the 2002
Table Tennis World Cup
The Table Tennis World Cup has been held annually since 1980. There had been only men's singles until the inauguration of women's singles in 1996 and team competitions in 1990. The team competitions, the World Team Cup, were canceled until the rela ...
held in
Jinan
Jinan (), Postal Map Romanization, alternately romanization of Chinese, romanized as Tsinan, is the Capital (political), capital of Shandong province in East China, Eastern China. With a population of 9.2 million, it is the second-largest city i ...
, China (where he beat the world champion
Wang Liqin
Wang Liqin (; born June 18, 1978, Shanghai) is a retired Mainland Chinese table tennis player. As of January 2014, he is ranked 12th in the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF). He began playing at the age of 6 and was picked for the Ch ...
and the Olympic champion
Kong Linghui), Timo Boll finished the year as the highest ranked player in the world. During the European Championship of 2003, Vladimir Samsonov led the Belarusian team to victory in the final against the German team. After his elimination during the second round of the singles competition, Boll lost his number one position in the world rankings.
Injury and comeback (2004–2006)
Back problems troubled Boll during the first half of 2004, which hindered his preparation for the
2004 Summer Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...
. Here, he was outclassed in the quarterfinal by
Jan-Ove Waldner
Jan-Ove Waldner (; born 3 October 1965),Jan-Ove Waldner profile.'' Swedish Table Tennis Federation in Sweden commonly ''J-O Waldner'' (, is a Swedish former table tennis player. He is often referred to as "the Mozart of table tennis."Bishop, G. ...
. After a period marked by public criticism, Timo Boll won tournament victories in Poland, Austria, and Germany. He also reached semi-finals of the
Pro Tour in Peking, where he was edged out 3–4 by
Ma Lin. Early in the 2005 season, Boll's back problems struck again; nevertheless, he won the silver medal in doubles at the World Championship, playing with
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 was awarded the Fair Play Award from the
ITTF after a referee's decision was reversed in favor of his opponent during the knockout rounds of that competition, leading to a defeat. The year ended with Boll winning the
Champions League with , and the
Table Tennis World Cup
The Table Tennis World Cup has been held annually since 1980. There had been only men's singles until the inauguration of women's singles in 1996 and team competitions in 1990. The team competitions, the World Team Cup, were canceled until the rela ...
in
Liège
Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège.
The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far from b ...
in Belgium, in which he defeated all three Chinese first-class players. In 2007, he won the European Championship in singles, doubles, and in the team competition.
Draft to Borussia Düsseldorf
In December 2006, Timo Boll signed a 3-year contract with , the current championship record-holding team, due to his former team's financial situation and loss of key players. Boll also moved in light of the upcoming Olympic Games 2008 and the possibility to train there with his doubles partner,
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 ...
. His 3-year contract with Borussia Düsseldorf began on 1 July 2007, with stipulations allowing him to miss certain Bundesliga matches in order to focus on international tournaments. His contract was later extended until 2022.
Climb to World No. 1 and further success (2007–2015)
In 2007, he won the
European Championship singles, doubles, and in the team competition. He was also active as a guest player in the
Chinese Super League
The Chinese Football Association Super League, commonly known as Chinese Super League or CSL, currently known as the China Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest tier of professional football in ...
.
During 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 ...
in
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 ...
, he participated again with the German national team. After victories over Croatia, Canada, Singapore and Japan in preliminary rounds and the semi-final, the team lost 0–3 against the host Chinese team. As the top-ranked player in 2008, Boll successfully defended his three European Champion titles from the previous year.
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 ...
, Boll lost in the last 16 to
Adrian Crisan but the German team won the bronze medal in the men's team event, losing to China in semi-finals but beating Hong Kong in the bronze medal deciding match.
Back problems led Boll to not participate in the 2008 and 2009 World Championships in China and Japan respectively. At the 2008 World Cup in Liège, he scored a semi-final victory over
Ma Long
Ma Long (; born 20 October 1988) is a Chinese table tennis player and the reigning Olympic singles champion. Widely regarded as the greatest table tennis player of all time, he is the first and only male player to complete a career Double Grand ...
but lost out in the final against
Wang Hao, winning a silver medal.
At the beginning of 2011, Timo Boll was back at the top of the world rankings, having beaten
Ma Lin in the Volkswagen Cup final. In April 2011, he was replaced as number 1 by Wang Hao.
At the 2011 World Table Tennis Championships in Rotterdam, Boll won his first singles medal in that competition, a bronze medal, after being beaten 4:1 by world champion,
Zhang Jike
Zhang Jike (; born 16 February 1988) is a retired Chinese table tennis player.
Zhang became the fourth male player in the history of table tennis to achieve a career Grand Slam when he won gold in men's singles at the Olympic games in London 20 ...
. During this championship, Boll declined to compete in doubles and team matches, focussing instead on the singles competition. Playing for the German national team, Boll received silver medals at both the Team World Championships 2010 in Moscow and the 2012 championships in Dortmund, losing out both times to the Chinese team.
Knee injury and comeback (2015–2016)
Boll kept his good form at the Chinese Super League in 2015, obtaining a result of 7 wins and 5 losses. Due to a knee injury, Boll opted for an operation to pre-empt a more serious injury. The surgery kept him out of action for an extended period of time. After resting from the surgery, Boll qualified for 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 ...
.
At the Olympic Singles event, Boll lost against
Quadri Aruna in the round of 32. At the Team event, Boll along with partners
Bastian Steger
Bastian Steger (born 19 March 1981) is a German table tennis player. He competed for Germany at the 2012 Summer Olympics where he won a bronze medal in the team event. He also won the bronze medal in the men's team event during the 2016 Summe ...
and
Dimitrij Ovtcharov
Dimitrij Ovtcharov (russian: Дмитрий Овчаров) or Dmytro Ovtcharov ( uk, Дмитро Овчаров; born 2 September 1988) is a Ukrainian-born German table tennis player. His father Mikhail (or Mikhaylo), a Soviet table tennis cha ...
won the bronze medal at the team event.
Continued Success (2017–)
Boll also won the silver medal at the 2017 World Cup, defeating
Lin Gaoyuan in the quarterfinals,
Ma Long
Ma Long (; born 20 October 1988) is a Chinese table tennis player and the reigning Olympic singles champion. Widely regarded as the greatest table tennis player of all time, he is the first and only male player to complete a career Double Grand ...
in the semi-finals but losing to teammate
Dimitrij Ovtcharov
Dimitrij Ovtcharov (russian: Дмитрий Овчаров) or Dmytro Ovtcharov ( uk, Дмитро Овчаров; born 2 September 1988) is a Ukrainian-born German table tennis player. His father Mikhail (or Mikhaylo), a Soviet table tennis cha ...
in the finals. He won the silver medal in the following World Cup in 2018, losing to
Fan Zhendong
Fan Zhendong (; born 22 January 1997) is a Chinese professional table tennis player who is currently ranked world No. 1 for men's singles by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF). After joining the Chinese National Table Tennis Team i ...
in the finals.
Boll won another eight titles at the European Table Tennis Championships in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2018.
Timo Boll will represent Germany in the men's singles event at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, where he hopes to medal.
2021
In June, Boll defeated Anton Kallberg in the quarter-finals of the European Table Tennis Championships. After the match, Boll said it was one of the best matches he had played in the last year or two as he felt that he was agile and thinking well. Boll then defeated
Mattias Falck
Mattias Falck (; né Karlsson) (born 7 September 1991) is a Swedish table tennis player.
Career
He competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics as part of the Swedish team in the men's team event. Mattias won two medals at the 2016 European Table Tenni ...
in the semi-finals and
Dimitij Ovtcharov in the finals to clinch his record-extending eighth European Championship. After the event, Boll remarked that he was pleasantly surprised by the championship and that he was glad to be back on top after having a particularly bad last year.
In July, two weeks before the Tokyo Olympics, Timo Boll withdrew from an internal German Olympic Scrimmage due to a hip injury.
Boll lost to Jeoung Youngsik in the round of 16 in the men's singles event at the Tokyo Olympics. Boll helped lead Germany to the men's team finals, and played a critical role as the third match against Taiwan and Japan. Before the finals, Boll stated, "If we can be on our peak, all three of us have the skills and the will to win the match. We will definitely go no limits to prove that this is our time." However, China ended up winning 3–0.
In September, Boll remarked that Fan Zhendong was a difficult opponent for him to play since they played a similar style but Fan Zhendong was just better.
Technique
Timo Boll is a left-handed player whose best weapon is his forehand topspin drive but who is also noted for his extremely quick backhand loop. His blade is the "Timo Boll ALC" with Dignics 09c rubbers on both sides. His present doubles partner is
Patrick Franziska
Patrick Franziska (born 11 June 1992) is a German table tennis player. He is currently sponsored by Butterfly and plays with FC Saarbrücken-TT in the German Bundesliga (TTBL).
Career
2021
Patrick Franziska represented Germany at the Tokyo ...
.
Boll's technique was ahead of its time as he was one of the first two-winged loopers. He employs the spin-block instead of a passive block to put more pressure on his opponents. He is renowned for being one of the top players when it comes to generating elevated amounts of spin, especially in his opening topspin. This is rendered possible by his low stance, quick acceleration and use of the wrist. This technique brought him a lot of success due to his opponents being put under pressure during the celluloid ball era. In recent years, due to the introduction of the plastic ball, which cannot be given as much spin, Boll relies more on his counter-topspin technique from both the backhand and forehand side. A good example of him employing this technique is his match against Fan Zhendong at the Austrian Open in 2019, in which he reached the deciding set against the 16 years younger World No. 1. This technique allows him to conserve energy but requires very good anticipation and reading of the opponent.
Club history
Timo Boll has played for TSV Höchst (1986 to 1994), FTG Frankfurt (1994 to 1995) and for TTV Gönnern (1995 to 2007). On 1 July 2007, his three-year contract began with Borussia Düsseldorf.
Personal life
Timo Boll married his long-time girlfriend, Rodelia Jacobi, on 31 December 2002. They have a daughter, Zoey Malaya, born 4 December 2013.
Sponsorships
Boll has been sponsored by
Butterfly table tennis since 1993. In May 2007 Boll extended his sponsorship until 2015 and is still playing Butterfly to this day. He has gone on to say that he is most satisfied with the agreement. Boll has his own racquet series with the company.
Awards
* 1997 Table Tennis Junior Player of the Year
* 1998 German Table Tennis player of the Year
* 2005
Bambi
''Bambi'' is a 1942 American animated drama film directed by David Hand (supervising a team of sequence directors), produced by Walt Disney and based on the 1923 book ''Bambi, a Life in the Woods'' by Austrian author and hunter Felix Salten. ...
Sport
* 2005
German Sportspersonality of the year
The German Sportspersonality of the Year has been chosen annually since 1947, with separate awards made for men and women. The record holder is tennis player Steffi Graf, who won five awards. Swimmer Michael Groß, tennis player Boris Becker, a ...
– 3rd position
* 2006 Sportsman of the Year in Hessen
* 2007 Fair-Play-Award of Minister (Secretary) of the Interior Home Secretary
* 2007
German Sportsmen of the Year 2nd position
* 2008 Sportsman of the Year in Hessen
* 2010 Sportsman of the Year in Hessen
* 2010 German Sportspersonality of the year – 2nd position
* 2017
ITTF Male Table Tennis Star
Titles
* World Cup 2002 and 2005, silver 2008, 2012,
2017
File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...
and 2018, bronze 2010 and 2014
* Single European Champion 2002, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2018 and 2021
* Team European Champion 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2017 and 2019
*
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
...
2002, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2010,
2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
and 2020
* European Super Cup 2007, 2008 and 2009
*
ITTF World Tour/Pro Tour (19) and
Grand Finals
Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Sy ...
(1): Brasil 2001, Austria 2002, Japan 2003, Poland, Germany and Austria 2004, Japan, Sweden and Grand Finals 2005, China, Germany and Poland 2006, Austria, Germany and Poland 2008, Qatar, Germany, and Poland 2009, Japan 2010, Korea 2017.
* Double: European Championship 2002 (together with
Zoltan Fejer-Konnerth
Zoltan Fejer-Konnerth (born 20 July 1978) is a male former international table tennis player from Germany.
He won a silver medal at the 2004 World Team Table Tennis Championships in the Swaythling Cup (men's team event) with Timo Boll, Jörg Ro ...
), 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 (together with
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 ...
), Japan Open 2005,
Pro Tour Grand Final 2005, 2009 (together with
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 ...
)
* Double: 2nd position World Championship 2005, 3rd position European Championship 2005 together with
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 ...
* Team: 2nd position
Olympic Games 2008
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 ...
; 3rd position
Olympic Games 2012
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 ...
, 2016; 2nd position European Championship 2000, 2002, 2003, 2014, 2nd position World Championship 2004, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2018; 3rd position World Championship 2006.
* German Championship: 13-times Single-Winner (1998, 2001–2007, 2009, 2015, 2017–2019), 3-times Double-Winner (1999 together with
Lars Hielscher, 2005 and 2007 together with
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 ...
)
* Champions League: Winner 2005 and 2006 with , 2009, 2010, 2011, 2018 and 2021 with Borussia Düsseldorf
* 3rd position Qatar and Kuwait Open Single 2007
* 3rd position World Championship Single 2011
* As the first German number one of the world table tennis rankings (January 2003)
See also
*
List of table tennis players
This list of table tennis players is alphabetically ordered by surname. The main source of the information included in this page is the official International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) database. More detailed information about their careers is ...
References
External links
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boll, Timo
1981 births
Living people
Olympic table tennis players of Germany
Table tennis players at the 2000 Summer Olympics
Table tennis players at the 2004 Summer Olympics
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
Olympic silver medalists for Germany
Olympic bronze medalists for Germany
Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Table tennis players at the 2015 European Games
People from Erbach im Odenwald
Sportspeople from Darmstadt (region)
German male table tennis players
European Games medalists in table tennis
European Games gold medalists for Germany
World Table Tennis Championships medalists