Dimitrij Ovtcharov – The Hindu

At 37, Dimitrij Ovtcharov isn’t resting on his laurels and remains clear about one thing — he is here to compete.

The German star, a six-time Olympic medallist with four silver and two bronze medals across five Olympic Games and a former World No. 1 (2017), put in more than an hour of intense practice at the SDAT High Performance Centre here on Thursday, alongside his coach and sparring partner, fine-tuning his game for the WTT Star Contender table tennis tournament.

India has often brought him good fortune. Ovtcharov won the singles titles at the ITTF Indian Open in 2010 and 2017 and followed it up with a semifinal finish at the WTT Star Contender in Goa in 2024.

“I’ve always performed very well in India and I hope to keep that going. I’m seeded second in the tournament and, of course, my goal is to reach the final. That’s why I came here with high ambitions. But there are many strong players here and it definitely won’t be easy,” he said.

Surgery and recovery

It’s not been a bed of roses for the two-time European champion for he had a spinal disc problem (between the arm and neck) for a while even as he underwent surgery after the World Championships finals last year and missed quite a few tournaments. But he was back performing well in 2026, reaching the semifinals of the Star Contender Doha.

“I lost a lot of time due to the surgery, but now I have recovered 100% and am really excited to start playing more tournaments. I had a good start to the year and hope to keep it up and be more consistent. Also, in the last few months, I’ve beaten quite a few top players like Tomokazu Harimoto (WTT Champions Frankfurt in November 2025, Hugo Calderano (WTT Champions Doha 2026) and Li Shidong (Star Contender Doha in 2026).

When asked about his final stop, Ovtcharov said: “It will be the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.”