by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor

A major problem for Jonathan Groth was that Ma Long made few mistakes; in fact Jonathan Groth counted just one unforced error from the man who has won every major title that the sport has to offer.

Climbed rankings

It was a lesson for the Dane who would appear to be a fast learner; when the September Men’s World Rankings were issued for September 2015, the name of Jonathan Groth appeared at no.110, following the Rio 2016 Olympic Games it appears at a very creditable no.27.

Furthermore, this year he has an ITTF World Tour title to his credit; in Croatia he partnered Germany’s Patrick Franziska to Men’s Doubles success.

Now the task for Jonathan Groth is to repeat that achievement in the Men’s Singles arena; present progress would suggest that is not out of the question.

Time is right

Surely at 23 years of age the time is right; he has bridged the gap from promising junior to becoming a senior player of note. Now he climb the next step and move into the top 20 of the Men’s World Rankings.

Recently he met Adam Bobrow in the series “Ask a Pro Anything”.