Olympic Games | 6 Aug 2021

Silver for Germany, China secures gold

A campaign to remember, the silver medal the end result for Germany in the men’s team event at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

In the splendid setting of the Metropolitan Gymnasium, on the concluding day of play, Friday 6th August, a 3-0 defeat was the order of the day against China.

XU Xin and MA Long, the 2011 World champions, gave China the perfect start; they beat Timo BOLL and Patrick FRANZISKA in straight games (11-7, 11-3, 11-9).

FAN Zhendong extended the advantage, but he was tested by Dimitrij OVTCHAROV, he was required to recover from a two games to one deficit to claim victory (3-11, 11-6, 9-11, 11-5, 11-3).

Ever closer to the goal, MA Long resisted a spirited performance by Timo BOLL to end matters (11-5, 11-9, 11-13, 11-7) and seal gold.

The result came after earlier in the day, Japan, the no.3 seeds had recorded a 3-1 success in opposition to Korea Republic, the no.4 seeds.

Jun MIZUTANI very much the mainstay of the victory; partnering Koki NIWA, the duo accounted for JEOUNG Youngsik and LEE Sangsu in the opening contest (11-9, 8-11, 15-13, 11-5).

Later and somewhat appropriately when considering the years of unstinting service, it was Jun MIZUTANI who concluded matters.

After Tomokazu HARIMOTO had beaten JANG Woojin (11-7, 8-11, 12-10, 11-7) and Koki NIWA had experienced defeat at the hands of JEOUNG Youngsik (11-3, 11-8, 11-7), Jun MIZUTANI accounted for JANG Woojin (14-12, 11-9, 11-9) to seal bronze.

Thus, since the team events were introduced in Beijing in 2008, China has always reserved the top step of the podium, for Germany they maintained their record of always winning a medal, silver had been the colour in Beijing, bronze on both London and Rio de Janeiro.

Repeat success but there was a first.

It was the first time in a men’s table tennis team event at an Olympic Games when every fixture was won by the higher seeded outfit; no surprises but, nevertheless, the action was enthralling.