As expected, the German men’s team had no chance against Japan at the Badminton World Championships in Chengdu/China and can no longer make it to the quarter-finals. After the opening defeat against Taiwan (1:4), the weakened selection of the German Badminton Association (DBV) suffered a 0:5 defeat on the second match day. “I think my performance was appealing, but I would have liked to have won at least one set,” said Kai Schäfer, who lost to Kodai Naraoka 18:21, 16:21. He has to “learn not to want too much, even in the crucial phases. Then you realize that you simply have more class and experience.”
In addition to Schäfer, Fabian Roth and Matthias Kicklitz lost their singles, and the doubles Marvin Seidel/Jan Colin Völker and Bjarne Geiss/Kenneth Neumann also suffered defeats. Without the injured Mark Lamsfuß, Jones Jansen and Max Weißkirchen, the DBV team started as outsiders. The last group game in the so-called Thomas Cup is against the Czech Republic. The German women’s team did not qualify for the Team World Cup.