Olympic Games | 3 Aug 2021
German medal hopes alive
Photo: Rémy Gros ITTF
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.
