A fruitful day for Germany on Tuesday 3rd August in the table tennis events at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games; both men’s and women’s teams booked semi-final places.
Conversely for Sweden in the men’s team event it was the end of the road.
At the quarter-final stage of the women’s team competition Germany the no.3 seeds recorded a 3-2 win against Korea Republic the no.7 seeds.
HAN Ying was the mainstay of the German win. In the second match she beat Choi Hyojoo (11-3 11-3 11-8) later in the fourth match she overcame SHIN Yubin to level matters (11-6 10-12 11-6 11-9).
The wins for Korea Republic were recorded by SHIN Yubin and JEON Jihee in opposition to SHAN Xiaona and Petrissa SOLJA (9-11 11-8 6-11 11-6 11-8) and by Jeon Jihee in the third match of the fixture against Petrissa Solja (11-6 13-11 11-3).
Hard fought for the German women it was the same for the men the no.2 seeds they recorded a 3-2 win against Chinese Taipei the no.7 seeds.
LIN Yun-Ju remained unbeaten for Chinese Taipei. In the second match of the fixture he beat Dimitrij OVTCHAROV and thus avenged the men’s singles bronze medal match defeat (10-12 14-12 7-11 12-14 11-7).
Later in the fourth match he accounted for Patrick Franziska in straight games (11-9 13-11 11-6).
Timo BOLL and Patrick FRANZISKA gave Germany the ideal start. They beat CHEN Chien-An and CHUANG Chih-Yuan in the opening match (11-0 6-11 11-6 12-10). Later Timo BOLL overcame CHEN Chien-An in the third match of the engagement (11-4 11-4 11-6); thus setting the scene for Dimitrij Ovtcharov to conclude matters.
He responded he accounted for CHUANG Chih-Yuan in straight games (11-8 11-9 11-7) to seal the victory; it was their 11th meeting on the international stage Dimitrij Ovtcharov has now won nine times.
Success for Germany disappointment for Sweden the no.5 seeds at the quarter-final stage of the men’s team event they were beat by Japan the no.3 seeds.
Tomokazu HARIMOTO and Koki NIWA remained unbeaten. They combined to secure the doubles at the expense of Anton KÄLLBERG and Kristian KARLSSON (11-8 13-11 8-11 11-9). Later in the third match of the fixture Tomokazu HARIMOTO beat Anton KÄLLBERG by a similar margin (10-12 11-9 11-9 12-10) Koki NIWA accounted for Mattias FALCK to conclude matters (12-10 11-5 11-6).
Mattias Falck secured the one win for Sweden; in the second match of the engagement he beat Jun Mizutani in four games (11-3 11-9 10-12 11-8). It was the first time he had beaten Jun Mizutani on the international stage he had lost both previous encounters.
In the remaining fixtures concluded on the 11th day of action in the women’s team quarter-finals China the top seeds beat Singapore the no.6 seeds; one round later at the semi-final stage Japan the no.2 seeds overcame Hong Kong the no.4 seeds. Both contests ended with a 3-0 margin of victory.
China now faces Germany in the remaining women’s team semi-final; in the men’s team penultimate round fixtures China opposes Korea Republic Germany confronts Japan.
The contests will be played on Wednesday 4th August.
