2016 Rio Olympic Games   World’s no. one MA Long of China emerged victoriously to book his place in the Round of 16 in Men’s Singles Event at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. In the third round on his first match in Riocentro – Pavilion 3 World champion overcame Jonathan GROTH of Denmark (11-3 11-2 11-3 11-9).    “I have mixed feelings I lost but it was a great privilege to play the best player in the world. He made just one mistake in the whole match; at 10-5 in the fourth game he made an error with a forehand. I think I played well but everything came back with interest. He is a fantastic player.”   MA will meet JEOUNG Youngsik of Korea in the Round of 16. World’s no. 10 overcame Liam PITCHFORD of Great Britain (6-11 11-8 13-11 11-5 11-5). Seeded no. 4 Jun MIZUTANI of Japan also justified his status. He beat Greece’s Gionis PANAGIOTIS (11-9 10-12 11-5 11-8 11-6). Seeded no. 28 KOU Lei of Ukraine upset the rankings and beat no. 13 seed Simon GAUZY of France (6-11 11-6 14-16 9-11 6-11).   “The last time I played Simon I won the deciding match in the European Qualification tournament in Halmstad” said KOU.“After winning earlier today against Omar ASSAR after nearly being out of the tournament I did not feel under any pressure I was able to play freely. I had most of the luck the nets and edges.”   Portugal’s Marcos FREITAS overcame Romania’s Ovidiu IONESCU (11-9 1-11 11-5 11-7 11-9).   In October 2015 Timo BOLL had knee surgery but six months later he recovered to book his place for his fifth Games in Rio. However on his first appearance in Riocentro he faced great problems against Alexander SHIBAEV of Russia. His struggling brought back memories of London 2012 when he was defeated much earlier than his rankings has predicted. In London CRISAN beat him in the match for the quarterfinal. Against SHIBAEV he faced another shocking defeat but recovered to reach the Round of 16 (12-14 11-4 7;11 11;7 1–12 12-10 11-6).   In the lower half of the draw Paul DRINKHALL of Great Britain overcame GAO Ning of Singapore 4-3 (11-7 11-6 3-11 11-3 9-11 9-11 11-8) to advance to the Men’s Singles Round of 32. Tomorrow he will meet Andrej GACINA of Croatia.    “Playing Gao Ning I know him well but I’ve never previously beaten him. Certainly his forehand top spin is very good he puts a lot of spin on the ball but today his fast backhand caused me more problems. I was serving I used sidespin serves maybe he was more relaxed he played really great flick returns. In the seventh game I just found myself in the right zone I felt confident in myself.”   Bojan TOKIC of SLovenia beat WANG Zengyi of Poland 4-2 (9-11 11-9 11-6 9-11 11-5 11-3)in the second round of the Men’s Singles event to meet Tiago APOLONIA of Portugal.    “I’ve always had problems playing WANG Zengyi but earlier this year in Qatar I beat him; he is very quick he gives you little time to react. I know what to expect; I felt today that my top spin play from both backhand and forehand was strong.”  

2016 Rio Olympic Games   The top guns entered the competition today. In the Women’s Singles Event at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games top seeded DING Ning of China successfully started her journey. In the higher half of the draw two European players HAN Ying and LI Xue secured the place in the Round of 16.   Silver medalist in singles in London 2012 and World champion in 2015 World no. two beat Romania’s Elizabeta SAMARA on her way to the round of 16 (11-5 11-8 11-5 11-2).   “I came very early today to start my warm up so it felt like I waited very long for my match to start. I was a little nervous at the start of the match but things eventually went well” said DING.   DING Ning was 0:6 in reverse in the second game.   “I wasn’t into rhythm then SAMARA had 2 edge balls when she was already leading 4-0. At that time I wasn’t panicking and was able to keep myself calm to strategize. The second game is actually the most crucial part of the match if I had lost that game the third and fourth game would have been more difficult for me.”   It was the same outcome of another Europe vs. Asia clash on the near table – Hong Kong’s DOO Hoi Kem beat Hungarian Georgina POTA 4:2 (8-11 9-11 14-12 11-8 11-9 11-8). It was 19 years old player début at the Olympic Games.   “I lost the first two games because I was so nervous so many people in the hall so much noise I lost concentration. When I was down 9-10 in the third game I said myself I must not lose so easily. After I won the third game I was much more active much more positive and I became more confident” said DOO Hoi Kem.   World’s no. 8 HAN Ying of Germany beat Thailand’s Nanthana KOMWONG on her way to the Top 16 (11-2 11-4 11-4 11-3). Currently ranked at the position no. 55 LI Xue of France upset the favorite and beat World’s no. 21 LI Jie of Netherlands after full seven games (11-8 14-12  8-11 9-11 7-11 11-6 8-11).   JEON Jihee of Korea prevailed against Matilda EKHOLM of Sweden 4:1 (11-2 11-3 3-11 11-4 11-2); CHEN Szu-Yu of Taipei accounted for Turkey’s HU Melek (10-12 6-11 7-11 8-11).

2016 Rio Olympic Games   At age of 53 NI Xia Lian of Luxembourg is still dangerous for most of the players at the top. Today in the Women’s Singles Event at the 2016 Rio Olympics Games she booked her place among top 32 players. On her way to the third round NI beat SHEN Yanfei of Spain in full seven games thriller (12-10 10-12 12-10 6-11 10-12 11-4 11-7).    “I didn’t expect to go so far here in Rio. It was a difficult match against SHEN Yanfei I had many opportunities in the games to win but I missed that. Many times in the past I would have lost the match totally but today I held on to the big opportunity to win it. Mentally I think I’m stronger today and my experience helped too. I implemented my tactics well in the match and I had to believe in myself.”   Speaking about the match NI added:   “I lost few games because I was too eager to win but I’m not young anymore I have to accept the situation I am in. If I’m still 20 years younger I would have taken every chance to end the match faster but I’m not anymore my body can’t keep up with my strategies and tactics and I need to adapt and play slower games and be more passive in my play. It’s like walking on thin ice it’s not easy.”   Still the experience can not help when it comes to excitement that Olympics bring.   “I still feel tired from my matches yesterday and last night I couldn’t sleep because I was too excited.”   About her next match against FENG Tianwei NI was realistic.   “Everybody is so good here and I’m happy to have the opportunity to challenge them. It’s fun and wonderful I will try my best! I’m fully motivated. FENG Tianwei is very good! She’s the 2010 World Team Champion and has beaten the world number one several times before. She’s very strong and consistent. She’s a professional I’m a housewife but I enjoy it. I have my family and supportive team to motivate me.”

Rio 2016 Olympic Games   In the first round of the Men’s Singles Event at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games Finland’s Benedek OLAH beat Singapore’s CHEN Feng (11-411-87-1111-911-6).   The player who was born in Finland but whose parents are from Hungary was delighted after the victory.   “This is my Olympics next time I might not qualify. I think CHEN Feng was really very nervous today; he let me play. That gave me confidence. I was surprised by his tactics he played very slowly I was not able to play hard against him. CHEN is smart his serves are difficult to read; more than once I gained a lead and then he came back. However I was able to finish the match” stated OLAH.   Adam PATTANTYUS of Hungary needed five games to beat Russia’s Kirill GERASSIMENKO (11-9 11-9 7-11 11-7 11-9). The oldest player in the field Spain’s HE Zhiwen overcame FENG Yijun of USA by the same margin (11-6 7-11 11-7 8-11 11-9 11-4).   Jakub DYJAS of Poland accounted for Paraguay’s Marcelo AGUIRRE in straight games (11-5 11-9 11-9 11-7) whilst Slovenia’s Bojan TOKIC needed one more to overcame Iran’s Noshad ALAMIYAN (11-8 7-11 11-4 11-5 11-9). Kamal ACHANTA SHARATH of India failed to halt the progress of Adrian CRISAN of Romania (8-11 12-14 11-9 6-11 8-11). Another Romania’s player Ovidiu IONESCU also progressed to the next stage. He beat Nima ALAMIAN of Iran.   In all-European duel the member of the bronze winning team at the World Championships Paul DRINKHALL of England beat Aleksandar KARAKASEVIC of Serbia (10-12 12-10 11-8 11-8 11-5).   KARAKASEVIC has been the only European player required to play in the preliminary stage of the Men’s Singles Event. He reached the Round of 128 after victory over Australia’s YAN Xin 4:2 (11-8 10-12 11-8 11-9 10:12 11-3).   “I have never played against YAN and that is a rare situation. I know almost all players on the circuit. It was not easy having player born in China in the opening round of the tournament” said KARAKASEVIC.

Rio 2016 Olympic Games   At the Rio 2016 Olympic Games the table tennis tournament commenced this morning with both Men’s and Women’s Singles Event.   In the opening round of the Women’s Singles event for Poland’s Katarzyna GRZYBOWSKA-FRANC the Czech Republic’s Iveta VACENOVSKA and Romania’s Daniela MONTEIRO-DODEAN emerged victoriously. Katarzyna GRZYBOWSKA-FRANC and Daniela MONTEIRO-DODEAN ended Indian hopes; Katarzyna beat Manika BATRA (10-12 11-6 14-12 8-11 11-4 14-12) Daniela overcame Mouma DAS (11-2 11-7 11-7 11-3).   Iveta VACENOVSKA overcame Colombia’s Lady RUANO (11-8 11-2 11-7 11-8) Lily Zhang accounted for Gremlis ARVELO (11-3 11-5 11-5 11-7) before WU Yue brought the morning to a conclusion by beating the Slovak Republic’s Eva ODOROVA (3-11 11-5 11-9 11-6 11-8).   Galia DVORAK of Spain came to Rio as a replacement for the injured French player Carole GRUNDISCH but her stay ended shortly. DVORAK lost against GUI Lin of Brazil (11-1 5-11 11-6 3-11 11-9 11-6)   “I was prepared physically but I was not prepared in my head because it is such a big tournament it happens only once every four years and people train four five six months and because I was not qualified maybe I was fine in my game but my head is still somewhere else.”   She faced the vocal crowd in her match against host nation representative.   “It’s not so nice not what we are used to in table tennis but I would not say it really affected me I was focused on my game and all this just at the beginning it was very shocking actually I lost the first game 11-1 because I clearly wasn’t there. We are not used to this in table tennis like in other countries like in China they cheer a lot but never against the opponent they cheer for their players but never making this ‘ooooh’ against you it was just weird.”   Egypt’s Nadeen EL-DAWLATLY was beaten in four straight games by Hungary’s Petra LOVAS (11-6 11-9 11-7 11-7) Nigeria’s Offiond EDEM experienced defeat at the hands of Viktoria PAVLOVICH of Belarus (5-11 11-8 11-8 11-7 11-4). Another Belarus representative Alexandra PRIVALOVA is also safely through to the second round. She overcame Iran’s Neda SHAHSAVARI to join NI Xia Lian of Luxembourg and Barbara BALAZOVA of Slovakia in next round. PRIVALOVA needed full seven games against SHAHSAVARI (11-8 11-8 8-11 8-11 11-8 4-11 11-5). BALAZOVA overcame Yadira SILVA of Mexico in straight games (12-10 11-5 11-8 11-7) whilst NI inflicted the pain in host nation supporters by beating Caroline KUMAHARA in another full distance thriller (12-10 14-16 8-11 9-11 11-8 11-3 14-12). KUMUHARA saved four match points in the decider.   NI Xia Lian had to change her style mid-match after falling behind three games to one:   “I changed to a new style after 40 years. I could not play conservative anymore because she played super good. So I’m really happy to win. She started to change the speed of the ball. So sometimes the ball was so fast and so short.”   On her next opponent SHEN Yanfei of Spain NI said: “My opponent is better than me. In the history I have always beat her but history is history and not today. I hope for tomorrow I have another beautiful day.   The 53 years old player added: “Life is beautiful I don’t remember my age but sometimes I feel my age. That’s the only shame (laughs).”  

2012 – China won all four available gold medals at the London 2012 Olympic Games. It also won all four gold medals in 1996 2000 and 2008.   1988 – Table tennis made its debut at Seoul 1988 and has been present ever since.   24 – China has won 24 out of a possible 28 gold medals in table tennis. Republic of Korea (3) and Sweden (1) have claimed the other four.   19 – DENG Yaping (CHN) is the youngest gold medallist in a singles event. She won women’s singles at Barcelona 1992 at the age of 19 years and 182 days.   7 – Jorgen PERSSON (SWE) Jean-Michel SAIVE (BEL) and Zoran PRIMORAC (CRO) competed at all seven Olympic table tennis tournaments between 1988 and 2012.   4 – Three players have won a record four gold medals in table tennis: DENG WANG Nan (CHN) and ZHANG Yining (CHN).   3 – WANG Hao (CHN) lost the men’s singles final at the Athens 2004 Beijing 2008 and London 2012 Olympic Games. He has now retired from international competition.   2 – CHEN Jing (TPE silver at Atlanta 1996) and KIM Hyang Mi (PRK silver at Athens 2004) are the only two non-Chinese athletes to have reached the women’s singles final.   1 – The number of gold medals won by non-Asian NOCs in table tennis. Jan-Ove WALDNER (SWE) won men’s singles in 1992.   0 – No athlete has managed to win the men’s singles more than once.   Statistics provided by Gracenote Sports.    

OVTCHAROV and SAMSONOV are expected to face off each other as early as the quarterfinals   Second seeded in the men’s singles event reigning Olympic Champion ZHANG Jike (CHN) has ended up with a tough draw to defend his title at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. The world number four have been drawn to the same half of the draw as CHEN Chien-An (TPE) Stefan FEGERL (AUT) and Dimitrij OVTCHAROV (GER) all of whom have beaten him on the international stage over the past year. World number nine Vladimir SAMSONOV (BLR) who has also defeated ZHANG in the past falls in the same half as well.   Best friends off court and teammates at the Russian League current and former European Champions OVTCHAROV and SAMSONOV are also expected to face off each other as early as the quarterfinals. The legendary SAMSONOV commented: “OVTCHAROV and I are best friends and we are teammates as well we know each other very well. But it’s competition so we will all do our best to fight for a medal here.”   The German men’s team have won medals in the past two Olympic Games where the team event was held but Rio will not be easy for them as they will face the strong team of Chinese Taipei led by world number seven CHUANG Chih-Yuan followed by the winner of Austria and Portugal both of which defeated them in the past two European Champions to claim Team Champions.   “My expectations were high last Olympics. I was the eighth seed but if the draw was not on my side it would have been tough. I was lucky with the draw I only had opponents I could beat and I took my chances. This time I have the same expectations but better seeding. I’ll have to play a top Chinese player at the earliest at the semi- final stage. There’s a lot of strong players from the beginning but my big goal is a medal in the team and in the singles event but the pressure is more on me than four years ago of course.”   On his Germany teammate Timo BOLL:   “Timo is a few years older now the last years I’ve been able to beat him quite often but he’s still very strong. Everything that he did for German table tennis in his best times he gave Europe and the rest of the world hope you can beat China. I am lucky to have him in my team and I have learned a lot from him.”   On whether he voted for BOLL in the competition to determine the German flagbearer:   “I was one of the first!”   On the prospect of beating the Chinese:   “I think it would improve the confidence of the rest of the world. I mean the Chinese have been very consistent since 2004 they’ve taken all the huge titles. The Chinese are very strong but there is a lot more pressure as MA Long (CHN) has mentioned.”   On the Chinese coach encouraging MA Long to drink alcohol in order to relax:   “Maybe I should try (laughs). If it works for the world No.1 it can’t be too bad. To relax I prefer music and taking some walks in nature to calm down but I’m world No.5 and he’s No.1 so if it works well for him we’ll see.”   Top seed and hot favourite in the women’s singles event China’s DING Ning will face few of the world’s best defenders on her way to securing an Olympic Gold having LI Jie (NED) and HAN Ying (GER) in her half of the draw. In her previous encounters with LI and HAN at the 2016 World Team Championships and the 2015 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals respectively DING had faced difficulties against both defending players only to win by a narrow margin in the end.   DING who is known to be weaker against defenders shared after the draw “It’s going to be a test on my ability against defending players this time in Rio and I am fully prepared for it!”   Fans are in for a treat in the women’s team event and could expect an epic clash between Germany and Japan in the semifinals. The two teams faced off each other earlier at the 2016 World Team Championships in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia where Germany first beat Japan in the group stage but the Japanese girls came back to avenge their loss in the quarterfinals.   The Rio 2016 Olympic table tennis event will be held from 06-17 August 2016 at Riocentro Pavilion 3.      

World Champions Ding Ning and Ma Long leads the Olympic seeding at Rio 2016 Table Tennis event   The seeding for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games Table Tennis event has been determined after the announcement of the ITTF August 2016 World Rankings with reigning World Champions MA Long (CHN) and DING Ning (CHN) leading the seeding in the Men’s and Women’s Singles event respectively.   World number one MA who has swept all major Men’s Singles titles in 2015 has his eyes set on Gold on his Olympic Singles debut in Rio to become the fifth male table tennis Grand Slam Champion in history.   The road to Gold will not be a smooth one for MA as he will have to fend off tough challengers including teammate Current Olympic Champion ZHANG Jike who will be the second seed in Rio. The world number four will be aiming for a consecutive Olympic Gold to complete his second table tennis Grand Slam.   Hot contenders for the Olympic medals Germany’s Dimitrij OVTCHAROV Japan’s Jun MIZUTANI and Chinese Taipei’s CHUANG Chih-Yuan filled up the remaining spots in the top five seeding and will be looking to topple the Chinese’s dominance in Rio.   In the Women’s Singles World number two DING will look to avenge her loss in the Women’s Singles Final at the London 2012 Olympic Games against compatriot LI Xiaoxia to earn her first Grand Slam title.   2010 World Team Champion and world number four FENG Tianwei (SIN) takes the one place ahead of the third seeded reigning Olympic Champion LI Xiaoxia (CHN).   Japan’s Kasumi ISHIKAWA and Ai FUKUHARA occupies the fourth and sixth seeding places respectively while Germany’s HAN Ying taking the fifth seed on her first quest for an Olympic medal.   All 70 Men’s and 70 Women’s Olympians will be drawn at the Draw Ceremony set to take place on 3 August 12:00 local time at Riocentro Pavilion 4.   The Rio 2016 Olympic Table Tennis event will be held from 06 – 17 August 2016 at the Riocentro Pavilion 3.