Slovenian pioneer Darko Jorgic part of European table tennis wave: How Djokovic photo inspires me

"We're coming closer and closer to the Chinese": Darko Jorgic on how men's table tennis is changing

The People's Republic of China still dominate table tennis. Chinese athletes won all five Olympic gold medals on offer last summer at Paris 2024, but there have been recent inroads by athletes representing other nations.

At the World Championships in Doha, the top two men's doubles seeds weren't Chinese, and second-seeded Japanese pair Shinozuka Hiroto and Togami Shunsuke ended up champions. Before that, in April, Brazil's Hugo Calderano became the first man from outside Asia or Europe to win the Men's Singles World Cup title.

That is perhaps because the Chinese men's team has undergone a transition, with table tennis GOAT Ma Long stepping back as well as Olympic champion Fan Zhendong taking a hiatus from table tennis (he recently returned to domestic competition in Germany's Bundesliga).

"I was always looking at table tennis from a young age watching the Chinese team," Jorgic affirms. "I think everybody in Europe was watching the Chinese at that time – for me, the best era to watch was Zhang Jike and Ma Long; my idol was Zhang Jike and that's why my backhand is one of the strongest in the world I would say."

But the recent turnover – and Calderano's result at the World Cup in Macao, China – "is giving a boost to all the players that we're coming closer and closer to the Chinese," Jorgic says.

"Not only to the Chinese, but Asia in general. We just need to believe in ourselves and play our games."

Jorgic is part of a wave of younger European talent which has seen the likes of Alexis and Félix Lebrun of France, Dang Qiu of Germany, Truls Möregårdh of Sweden, and the more veteran Germans Benedikt Duda and Patrick Franziska, who are challenging that Chinese and Asian status quo alongside Brazil's Calderano.

But Jorgic was quick to pay tribute to the previous generations of European players, including the freshly retired Timo Boll and 1997 World Championships runner-up Vladimir Samsonov, for paving the way for the current crop of players.

"Of course, we cannot forget Timo and Vladi when they had the best years," the Slovenian says. "They also won the World Cup and these kinds of tournaments.

"We have really [good] young players right now – I'm one of the oldest in this generation," he laughs (Jorgic turns 27 at the end of July). "It's just amazing and of course we are boosting each other to perform better and to get to the best level possible."

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