Thanks to the pioneering 1984 mockumentary, "This is Spinal Tap," the number 11 has assumed cultural significance. In one famous scene, the fictional band's lead guitarist Nigel Tufnel, as portrayed by Christopher Guest, proudly shows his amp with knobs that go one higher than the standard. "If we need that extra push over the cliff, you know what we do?" he asks, rhetorically. "Eleven. Exactly." Today at the 2020 ITTF European Championships (observed) in Warsaw, Poland, a rocking duo would have made old Nigel proud. In the mixed doubles finals, Germany's 11th-seeded Qiu Dang and Nina Mittelham (pictured, primary podium) upset the top seeds to claim the championship. In the semifinals, Qiu and Mittelham eked out a win over second-seeded French duo Emmanuel Lebesson and Yuan Jia Nan after nearly blowing a 2-0 lead. "After two games, one might think it would be an easy win," reflected Qiu."But we knew they were really strong. In the third and fourth sets we had to struggle a bit to find our game. Luckily we found this last." Find it just in time they did, with a final scoreline of (14-12, 11-7, 4-11, 5-11, 13-11). For their efforts, Qiu and Mittelham earned a spot in the finals against Lubomir Pistej and Barbora Balazova of Slovakia, the top seeds in the event. "Now we have a hard match against the number one seeded doubles team," said Qiu after the match. "But we won against the second seed, so anything is possible," he added. Indeed, anything proved not only possible but probable after winning the first two games. Rather than repeating the drama of the semifinals, they delivered the coup de grâce, (11-9, 11-8, 11-6). "We did not not come here with great expectations, but as the Championships progressed we were better and better and we got a lot of self confidence," said Qiu on behalf of himself and Mittelham. "Especially in the final, we were very good." How good? On a scale of one to ten, you would have to give them the Tufnel treatment.

More at ITTF