Patrick Franziska
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Germany
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Germany
Patrick Franziska is a famous German tennis player who is a great asset to team competitions because of his unmatched skills in double matches. He is an attacker famous for his shakehand playing style, the table tennis grip popular in Western movies and employed by many Asian and European players. This is where the blade relaxes on the V-shape formed by your thumb and index finger so you look like you want to shake hands. The thumb rests on the blade in a shallow shakehand grip and on the rubber in a deep shakehand grip.
We will explore Patrick Franziska table tennis career, equipment and his major wins in team and doubles events.
Quick Facts
Biography
Patrick Franziska was born on 11 June, 1992 in Bensheim, Germany. He is a child prodigy who started playing table tennis when he was only 6 years old.
In an earlier interview in 2011, Franziska Patrick described inching closer to being among the top 5 table tennis players in Germany. Since then, he has achieved that and broken many records in the process.
However, table tennis was not his first choice since he first fell in love with gymnastics and then football before embracing table tennis in 1998 when he joined a German sports club, TSV 1875 Höchst, in Odenwald. Here he met professional players such as Wolfgang Boll, who is the father of Timo Boll and Elisabeth Grujic, who is the wife of Slobodan Grujic, the Serbian player who played his last match at the Men’s European Championships Doubles in 2008.
Patrick also played for SV Mörlenbach and TTC 1947 Elz. As a child, he admired and was inspired by Kalinikos Kreanga’s offensive playing style and then he found an idol in Timo Boll who originally played for TSV Höchst and whom he would later play alongside in the national team. The pair proceeded to form a strong bond.
Shortly after 2000, Patrick joined the national team and in 2002, he joined the German Table Tennis Federation and acquired new coaches to nurture his talents.
His dedicated parents drove him every day for the 2 hours of training.
Franziska Patrick admits to being a sore loser who often cried and threw his bat as a child after a defeat. He doubted himself and disliked watching the matches he had lost. In time, he grew to appreciate the value in defeat and use it to improve.
Career
First competitions
Patrick was 13 years old when he started competing in the Oberliga. He then transferred to SV Mörlenbach and later to TTc Elz where he competed in the Regional League until 2009.
In 2007, Patrick Franziska won a silver medal in the Cadet Boys Singles at the European Youth Championships. In 2009, he won a gold medal in the Junior Boys Singles at the Polish Junior Open and a silver medal in the Junior Boys Singles at the Egyptian Junior Open tournament. He has also been a German junior champion multiple times.
In 2008, Franziska Patrick dropped out in the preliminary round of individual competitions and took part in the men’s doubles event for the first time with Kay-Andrew Greil at the German Senior Championship held in Hamburg. The duo competed against Lennart Wehking and Nico Christ in the quarterfinals and won 4-3, advancing to the semifinals where they lost to Dimitrij Ovtcharov and Patrick Baum. Patrick Franziska became the youngest winner of the German Senior Championship.
Patrick finished second in the 2010 Spanish Junior and Cadet Open. He was also a substitute for Bastian Steger in the national team at the 2010 European Championships. The team won the European title. He paired with Patrick Baum in the men’s doubles but was eliminated in the second round. In December 2010, he became the European champion in singles among youth teams after winning gold at the 2010 European Youth Championships in Bratislava. He also won a bronze medal in the men’s doubles with Arne Hölter and with the team at the championship.
In 2012, he moved to RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell after TG Hanau was eliminated. Patrick Franziska won a gold medal in the U-21 Men’s Singles at the 2012 Koltsovo Russia Open and another gold medal at the 2013 German Open with Timo Boll in the men’s doubles event.
In October 2013, became the European champion after winning all four games with the team. The same month, he became European champion with the team. He won all four of his games. In the individual championship, he was eliminated in the second round.
Patrick joined Borussia Düsseldorf in 2014 and became the winner of the Cup with the team. He enjoyed having more control over his training at Düsseldorf and switched from his weight lifting regimen to more bodyweight exercises after a series of injuries. You can prevent injuries by wearing the best tennis shoes that are designed to provide lateral stability and accommodate the various changes of footwork direction.
In 2014, Patrick was the vice-champion of the German national team in Tokyo. He played against Xu Xin who won 11-5, 11-2 and 11-8 and defeated him in the final at the World Team Table Tennis Championships.
In 2015, Patrick and his teammate Timo Boll won the men’s doubles at the 2015 German Open.
World Ranking
Franziska Patrick was very successful during his cadet and junior era, winning gold in the 2009 Tunisian Junior Open, the 2009 Polish Junior Open and the 2010 European Youth Championships. He was also the 2010 Youth Player of the Year.
Patrick has not managed to win a gold medal in the Singles of major events after his younger years. However, he has won several medals in men’s doubles and Team events, including the 8 gold medals he won with Timo Boll, Petrissa Solja and Dimitrij Ovtcharov.
Patrick was first ranked among the top 100 table tennis players in 2012. In December 2022, he was ranked 14 by ITTF, and his highest ranking was 11 in July-August 2022.
Olympics
Franziska Patrick won a silver medal in the Men’s Team event at the 2020 Olympics and represented Germany in 2021 at the Tokyo Olympics.
World cup
Patrick Franziska whose table tennis equipment became Butterfly Tenergy 05 rubber, dropped out of the German National Table Tennis team for the Team World Championship at the World Cup after becoming a father for the first time. The rubber is also a favorite of counterpart and European Champion Timo Boll, who uses it on forehand and backhand. We have more options for the best table tennis rubbers and they are available in customizable styles.
Apart from Patrick, the German National Table Tennis team was also missing its two top players, Dimitrij Ovtcharov and Timo Boll, due to long-term injuries that occurred in the first half of the year.
World championships
Franziska Patrick won silver medals in the Team event at the 2014 World Championships in Tokyo and the same category at the 2018 World Championships in Hamlstad, Sweden. He also won a bronze medal in the Mixed Doubles event at the 2019 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary.
ITTF world tour
Franzisca Patrick eliminated Jun Mizutani of Japan in the second round of the Men’s Singles event at the 2019 ITTF World Tour Czech Open.
He also toppled Koki Niwa and Simon Gauzy to reach the quarterfinal at the 2019 ITTF World Tour Platinum Qatar Open.
The same year, he defeated Mattias Falck and Fan Zhendong at the 2019 ITTF World Tour Platinum Australian Open and later lost to Xu Xin.
Patrick Franziska and Petrissa Solja were defeated by Prithika Pavade and Simon Gauzy in the Mixed Doubles quarterfinal at the Liehberr 2020 ITTF European Individual Championship.
Patrick Franziska Equipment
Videos
Final Thoughts
Franziska Patrick had his own blade created and it has been available for purchase since 2022.
Patrick was discovered and trained by Master Coach Helmut Hampl, who also trained Timo Boll.
Earlier in 2023, Patrick and Timo withdrew from the German men’s team. The team reached the final and won a silver medal at the 2022 World Team Championships in Chengdu.
Patrick Franziska understands the value of a healthy mindset, and he has had a mental coach who has been keeping him on track for a while. When the German player is not breaking records in table tennis, he unwinds by having fun activities with his family and friends.