It was a special day for Germany at the TotalEnergies BWF World Championships 2022, with Mark Lamsfuss and Isabel Lohau becoming the first pair from their country to win a medal.
The Germans let slip a 19-17 lead in the third game of their quarterfinal against Hong Kong China’s Tang Chun Man/Tse Ying Suet before Lohau helped set up match point. They needed only the one opportunity, as Lamsfuss caught Tang by surprise with a crosscourt drive.
Germany has four bronze medals from previous World Championships, all in women’s singles. It has been over a decade since the country won a medal, with the last coming from Julianne Schenk in 2011.
“It’s an amazing feeling,” said Lamsfuss. “I believed we could do it. It was a lot of fun on court, I think you could see us smiling even though at 19-18 we did a mistake, an easy one. We were still smiling and enjoying the game and this helped us a lot on court. There’s a lot of emotions.”
Despite the match heading to a tight finish, the Germans looked composed.
“Actually, we were very self-confident in the last few rallies. We had good focus and I can count on Isabel 100 per cent. I know she’s doing the right stuff there and then it’s easy for me actually, just be behind her and have her back. And in the end, we just took it.”
Lamsfuss was thrilled at the significance of the achievement for German badminton.
“For Germany, it’s a huge achievement, it has never happened before in doubles and we are very happy about that, that we are the ones taking the first medal, but we just keep on going tomorrow. We can be happy but we want to keep the focus for the semifinals.”
What a moment for 🇩🇪 Lamsfuss/Lohau as they are through to the semifinals! 👏
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— BWF (@bwfmedia) August 26, 2022