When he became number one at the age of 21, eight years ago, Timo Boll from Germany, did not believe he was the best… »I did not deserve it » he said. Now , recaptured the number one spot, after 88 months of chinese domination, he claims that he is a much better player, » I can play consistently at a very high level »
Let’s see his view on his mental approach of that particular situation : « the first time when I became number one, I felt the chinese players were much better than me. I felt I did not deserve to be number 1 although I won the world cup and the European championship. It was so new. My opponents were my idols in some ways. »
He did not have good runs in all important major tournaments, despite many victories on ITTF tour ( he won two world tour). Six world championship and three olympics, but never won a singles title…
What are the reasons he can tell us?
« it is not so easy…you have to be really fit at the right moment, I was not mentally fresh and my preparation was not perfect..perhaps I played too many tournaments….sometimes also, my opponent was in very good shape, and the is no big gap between number 20 and me. Unfortunately, I never put together my shape, my body, my mind, ..but I am working on that now ».
Moreover, he is telling us an important aspect of his personality…explaining perhaps his non belief being « the umber one » at that time…
« I am a pessimistic person. It put pressure on me. During the game, I feel confident. But before the game I was always afraid of losing. », despite a great career, there was some missing titles… But I never had such expectations of myself Now, I will try my best the next few years to push myself really hard to optimize my abilities, and then we will see what happens… If I can win those missing titles or not… Then in the end, I can say I gave my best…I hope I can get what I feel I deserve. » now, knowing more about himself, and eight more years…he is more prepared for the next challenge, London 2012, » I think my chance is better than ever because
I am better player than ever, and I have more experience than before. At age of 30, Boll believes he is now approaching his « real peak ».
Jacques Hervet 