Table tennis made a thrilling start at Paris 2024 – its 10th Olympic Games. The iconic South Paris Arena 4 was transformed into a cauldron of excitement as players from across the globe battled for Olympic glory.
The day marked a historic occasion as Santoo SHRESTHA from Nepal Fathimath ALI from the Maldives and Vladislav URSU from Moldova became the first table tennis players to represent their respective nations at the Olympic Games.
On court thrilling matches kept spectators on the edge of their seats. From the exhilarating seven-game battle between Elizabeta SAMARA and Solomiya BRATEYKO to the dominant displays of Britt EERLAND and Truls MOREGARD the opening day of competition delivered non-stop excitement.
Defying age NI Xia Lian 61 wrote her name into the Olympic record books as the oldest player to win a table tennis match at the Games defeating Turkey’s Sibel ALTINKAYA.
The day concluded with a series of thrilling contests. Georgina POTA staged a remarkable comeback from 3-1 down to defeat Germany’s Xiaona SHAN 4-3 while Quadri ARUNA’S hopes of repeating his Rio 2016 quarterfinals performance were dashed by Eduard IONESCU who completed an astonishing 4-3 upset in his Olympic debut. The 20-year-old Romanian saved a total of 6 match points to defeat the Nigerian (8-11 9-11 6-11 11-8 12-10 11-9 13-11).
A particular highlight came in the form of Prithika PAVADE’S triumph over Iranian Neda SHAHSAVARI. The Frenchwoman’s victory ignited the crowd sending the arena into raptures. Her achievement marked a historic moment for French table tennis as she secured the first French table tennis win on home soil at the Paris Olympics.
The mixed doubles competition also produced its share of drama. The French pairing of Jia Nan YUAN and Alexis LEBRUN buoyed by the home crowd narrowly missed out on a place in the next round losing a closely contested match. Meanwhile a major upset saw DPR Korea’s Ri Jong SIK and Kim Kum YONG sensationally defeat the second-seeded Japanese pair of Hina HAYATA and Tomokazu HARIMOTO.
