Timo Boll facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Timo Boll
Boll in 2016
Personal information
Born	(1981-03-08) 8 March 1981 (age 44) Erbach, West Germany
Playing style	Left-handed, shakehand grip
Equipment(s)	Butterfly Timo Boll ALC blade; Butterfly Dignics 09c (Black, FH); Butterfly Dignics 09c (Red, BH) Early career = Donic
Highest ranking	1 (January 2003)
Current ranking	23 (6 August 2024)
Club	Borussia Düsseldorf
Height	1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight	72 kg (159 lb)
Medal record Men's table tennis Representing  Germany Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 0 2 2 World Championships 0 6 3 World Cup 2 3 2 Olympic Games Silver 2008 Beijing Team Silver 2020 Tokyo Team Bronze 2012 London Team Bronze 2016 Rio de Janeiro Team World Championships Silver 2004 Doha Team Silver 2005 Shanghai Doubles Silver 2010 Moscow Team Silver 2012 Dortmund Team Silver 2014 Tokyo Team Silver 2018 Halmstad Team Bronze 2011 Rotterdam Singles Bronze 2006 Bremen Team Bronze 2021 Houston Singles World Cup Gold 2002 Jinan Singles Gold 2005 Liège Singles Silver 2008 Liège Singles Silver 2012 Liverpool Singles Silver 2017 Liège Singles Silver 2018 Paris Singles Bronze 2014 Düsseldorf Singles Bronze 2010 Magdeburg Singles European Games Gold 2019 Minsk Singles Gold 2019 Minsk Team Gold 2023 Kraków–Małopolska Team European Championships Gold 2002 Zagreb Singles Gold 2002 Zagreb Doubles Gold 2007 Belgrade Singles Gold 2007 Belgrade Doubles Gold 2007 Belgrade Team Gold 2008 Saint-Petersburg Singles Gold 2008 Saint-Petersburg Doubles Gold 2008 Saint-Petersburg Team Gold 2009 Stuttgart Doubles Gold 2009 Stuttgart Team Gold 2010 Ostrava Singles Gold 2010 Ostrava Doubles Gold 2010 Ostrava Team Gold 2011 Gdansk-Sopot Singles Gold 2011 Gdansk-Sopot Team Gold 2012 Herning Singles Gold 2017 Luxembourg Team Gold 2018 Alicante Singles Gold 2019 Nantes Team Gold 2021 Warsaw Singles Silver 2000 Bremen Team Silver 2002 Zagreb Team Silver 2003 Courmayeur Team Silver 2014 Lisbon Team Silver 2023 Malmö Team Bronze 2003 Courmayeur Singles Bronze 2005 Aarhus Doubles Bronze 2009 Stuttgart Singles Bronze 2016 Budapest Singles

Timo Boll (born March 8, 1981) is a famous German professional table tennis player. He plays for the club Borussia Düsseldorf. Timo is known as the most successful German table tennis player ever.

He has won many medals at the Olympic Games, World Cups, and World Championships. Timo was ranked the world's number one player in 2003, 2011, and again in March 2018. He was ranked 23rd in the world by the ITTF in August 2024.

Timo Boll's Early Life

Timo Boll was born in Erbach im Odenwald, Germany. He started playing table tennis when he was just four years old. His father was his first coach.

In 1987, Timo joined the TSV Höchst club. When he was eight, a trainer named Helmut Hampel noticed his talent. In 1990, he began training at a special center in Pfungstadt.

Four years later, he joined the FTG Frankfurt team. He played in the Second Division and caught the eye of other table tennis clubs. In 1995, TTV Gönnern recruited him. The whole team even moved 170 kilometers closer to Höchst so Timo could train daily. Even though he was only 14, Timo lost only one match that season. This helped his team move up to the top national league.

Timo Boll's Amazing Career

Junior Table Tennis Success

At 14, Timo Boll was the youngest player in Germany's top table tennis league. He won his first international awards at the Table Tennis European Youth Championships in 1995. He took home three gold medals there.

In 1996, he was second in the Junior Boys Singles at the same competition. But he came back to win the singles title in 1997 and 1998. He also won the doubles title in 1998.

Becoming a Top Player (2002–2003)

In 2002, Timo Boll made history by becoming the first German player to win the Europe Top-12 tournament. He beat Vladimir Samsonov in the final match. Timo also became Germany's top-ranked player, passing Jörg Roßkopf.

At the European Table Tennis Championships in Zagreb, Timo won both the singles and doubles titles. He played doubles with Zoltan Fejer-Konnerth. Later that year, he won the 2002 Table Tennis World Cup in China. He beat world champion Wang Liqin and Olympic champion Kong Linghui. This win made Timo Boll the world's highest-ranked player by the end of 2002.

In 2003, he lost his number one ranking after an early exit from a competition.

Battling Injuries and Making a Comeback (2004–2006)

Timo faced back problems in 2004, which affected his training for the 2004 Summer Olympics. He lost in the quarter-finals there. After this, he won tournaments in Poland, Austria, and Germany.

In 2005, his back problems returned. Despite this, he won a silver medal in doubles at the World Championship with Christian Süß. He also received a special Fair Play Award. This was because he helped a referee correct a call that went against his opponent, even though it meant he would lose the match.

The year 2005 ended well for Timo. He won the Champions League with his team, TTV Gönnern. He also won the Table Tennis World Cup in Belgium, beating three top Chinese players.

Joining Borussia Düsseldorf

In December 2006, Timo Boll signed a three-year contract with Borussia Düsseldorf. This team holds the record for the most championships. He moved because his old team had money problems and lost important players.

Timo also wanted to train with his doubles partner, Christian Süß, for the upcoming 2008 Olympic Games. His contract with Borussia Düsseldorf started in July 2007. It allowed him to miss some league matches to focus on big international tournaments. His contract has been extended many times, even until 2022.

Reaching World No. 1 Again (2007–2015)

In 2007, Timo won the singles, doubles, and team events at the European Table Tennis Championships. He also played as a guest in the Chinese Super League.

At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, he played with the German national team. They reached the final but lost to the Chinese team. As the top-ranked player in 2008, Timo successfully defended his three European Champion titles from the year before.

At the 2012 Summer Olympics, Timo lost in the round of 16. However, the German team won the bronze medal in the men's team event. They lost to China in the semi-finals but beat Hong Kong for the bronze.

Timo had back problems again and could not play in the 2008 and 2009 World Championships. At the 2008 World Cup, he won a silver medal after a tough final match.

In early 2011, Timo Boll was back at the top of the world rankings. He won the Volkswagen Cup final against Ma Lin. In April 2011, Wang Hao took over the number one spot.

At the 2011 World Table Tennis Championships, Timo won his first singles medal at that event, a bronze. He focused only on singles for this championship. With the German national team, he won silver medals at the Team World Championships in 2010 and 2012. Both times, they lost to the strong Chinese team.

Knee Injury and Another Comeback (2015–2016)

Timo Boll continued to play well in 2015. However, he decided to have surgery for a knee injury to prevent it from getting worse. This surgery kept him from playing for a while.

After recovering, Timo qualified for the 2016 Summer Olympics. In the singles event, he lost in the round of 32. But in the team event, Timo and his partners Bastian Steger and Dimitrij Ovtcharov won the bronze medal.

Continued Success (2017–2020)

Timo also won a silver medal at the 2017 World Cup. He beat top players like Lin Gaoyuan and Ma Long. He lost to his teammate Dimitrij Ovtcharov in the final. He won another silver medal at the 2018 World Cup, losing to Fan Zhendong.

Timo won eight more titles at the European Table Tennis Championships between 2009 and 2018.

Recent Years and Retirement (2021–2024)

In June 2021, Timo Boll won his eighth European Championship title. He beat Anton Kallberg, Mattias Falck, and Dimitrij Ovtcharov. He was very happy with his performance, saying he felt agile and thought well during the matches.

In July 2021, just before the Tokyo Olympics, Timo had to pull out of a practice match due to a hip injury. At the Tokyo Olympics, he lost in the round of 16 in the men's singles. However, he helped lead Germany to the men's team finals, playing a key role in matches against Taiwan and Japan. China won the final match 3–0.

In 2021, at 40 years old, Timo won a bronze medal at the 2021 World Table Tennis Championships in Houston. This was a big achievement, as it was only his second singles medal at a World Championship or Olympic Games.

Starting in 2022, Timo suffered from several injuries, including a rib and a shoulder injury. These injuries made it hard for him to train and even stopped him from playing in some big events. He lost early at the 2022 European Championships and could not play in the 2023 World Championships at all. Because of these injuries, his world ranking dropped to 182nd in early 2024.

However, 2024 started much better for Timo. He won the WTT Contender tournament in Doha in January. He beat three top-12 players in a row: Jang Woojin, Lin Yun-Ju, and Tomokazu Harimoto. This win helped his world ranking jump from 182 to 45.

At the end of May 2024, Timo Boll announced that the Paris 2024 Olympics would be his last competition before he retires from table tennis.

Timo Boll's Playing Style

Timo Boll is a left-handed player. His strongest shot is his forehand topspin drive. He is also known for his super-fast backhand loop. He uses a "Timo Boll ALC" blade with Dignics 09c rubbers on both sides. His current doubles partner is Patrick Franziska.

Timo's playing style was very advanced for his time. He was one of the first players to use both sides of his racket for powerful "loop" shots. He uses a "spin-block" instead of a simple block to put more pressure on his opponents. He is famous for putting a lot of spin on the ball, especially with his first topspin shot. He does this by staying low, moving quickly, and using his wrist.

This technique helped him win a lot when table tennis used celluloid balls. Now, with plastic balls, which are harder to spin, Timo uses more of a "counter-topspin" technique. This means he hits the ball back with spin from both his forehand and backhand. This style helps him save energy but requires him to guess his opponent's shots very well.

Timo Boll's Teams

Timo Boll has played for a few different teams:

• TSV Höchst (1986 to 1994)
• FTG Frankfurt (1994 to 1995)
• TTV Gönnern (1995 to 2007)
• Borussia Düsseldorf (since July 1, 2007, and still plays there)

Timo Boll's Personal Life

Timo Boll married his long-time girlfriend, Rodelia Jacobi, on December 31, 2002. They have a daughter named Zoey Malaya, who was born on December 4, 2013.

Sponsorships

Timo Boll has been sponsored by Butterfly table tennis since 1993. Butterfly makes table tennis equipment. In May 2007, he extended his sponsorship with them until 2015, and he still uses their products today. He has said he is very happy with this partnership. Butterfly even has a special racket series named after him.

Awards Timo Boll Has Won

• 1997 Table Tennis Junior Player of the Year
• 1998 German Table Tennis Player of the Year
• 2005 Bambi Sport Award
• 2005 German Sportspersonality of the Year – 3rd place
• 2006 Sportsman of the Year in Hessen
• 2007 Fair-Play-Award from the Home Secretary
• 2007 German Sportsmen of the Year – 2nd place
• 2008 Sportsman of the Year in Hessen
• 2010 Sportsman of the Year in Hessen
• 2010 German Sportspersonality of the Year – 2nd place
• 2017 ITTF Male Table Tennis Star

Major Titles Timo Boll Has Won

• World Cup: Gold in 2002 and 2005; Silver in 2008, 2012, 2017, and 2018; Bronze in 2010 and 2014
• European Champion (Singles): 2002, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2018, and 2021
• European Champion (Team): 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2017, and 2019
• Europe Top-16: 2002, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2018, and 2020
• European Super Cup: 2007, 2008, and 2009
• ITTF World Tour/Pro Tour (19 titles) and Grand Finals (1 title):
  • 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.
• Doubles:
  • European Championship: 2002 (with Zoltan Fejer-Konnerth), 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 (with Christian Süß)
  • Japan Open: 2005
  • Pro Tour Grand Final: 2005, 2009 (with Christian Süß)
  • 2nd place World Championship 2005
  • 3rd place European Championship 2005 (with Christian Süß)
• Team Events:
  • 2nd place Olympic Games 2008
  • 3rd place Olympic Games 2012, 2016
  • 2nd place European Championship 2000, 2002, 2003, 2014
  • 2nd place World Championship 2004, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2018
  • 3rd place World Championship 2006
• German Championship:
  • 13-times Singles Winner (1998, 2001–2007, 2009, 2015, 2017–2019)
  • 3-times Doubles Winner (1999 with Lars Hielscher, 2005 and 2007 with Christian Süß)
• Champions League: Winner in 2005 and 2006 with TTV Gönnern; 2009, 2010, 2011, 2018 and 2021 with Borussia Düsseldorf
• 3rd place Qatar and Kuwait Open Singles 2007
• 3rd place World Championship Singles 2011 and 2021
• First German player to be ranked number one in the world (January 2003)

Images for kids

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  Timo Boll in 2016

See also

In Spanish: Timo Boll para niños

• List of table tennis players