Tournaments

21 Mar 2017

Success as seeding predicted was the scenario when matters concluded in the top half of the draw in the Men’s Singles event at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games on the early evening of Monday 8th May in Riocentro Pavilion 3.

China’s Ma Long, the top seed, alongside Japan’s Jun Mizutani, the no.10 seed and Portugal’s Marcos Freitas, the no.8 seed, emerged successful, following the example set by Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna who had sensationally beaten Germany’s Timo Boll.

by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor

The six games win recorded by the Nigerian was centrepiece (12-10, 12-10, 11-5, 3-11, 5-11, 11-6) but very nearly he was upstaged by Korea’s Jung Youngsik, the no.9 seed, who won the first two games before Ma Long recovered (6-11, 10-12, 11-5, 11-1, 13-11, 13-11).

Impatient

“I was impatient in the first two games, I had chances establish a lead but I was too eager to try to widen the gap; that caused me to make too many mistakes”, said Ma Long. “He is still young and has a lot of potential, he has improved a lot over the past two years and is one of our top opponents; he played well in the match and gave me a lot of trouble.”

End of Road

Success for Ma Long, with the tiered seating packed and cacophony of noise, it was success for Jun Mizutani; he ended the hopes of the host nation’s Hugo Calderano, like Ma Long in six games (11-5, 11-6, 11-13, 8-11, 11-8, 12-10).

“He is a very strong player, he knows how to win; at first I couldn’t adapt to his playing style but then I became confident and managed to level at two-all”, said Hugo Calderano. “I know I could have won the last two games, these were very close but things turned out in this way eventually; he is a great player and knows how to play in crucial moments, I missed some details but I hope to learn about it in the next years .”

Less Dramatic

Tense, close contests, the one remaining duel was less dramatic; Portugal’s Marcos Freitas, the no.8 seed, accounted for Ukraine’s Kou Lei in four straight games (11-8, 11-7, 11-5, 11-7).

Quarter-Finals

At the quarter-final stage Ma Long meets Quadri Aruna, Marcos Freitas faces Jun Mizutani; the matches will be played on Tuesday 9th August.

 

 

Rio 2016 Rio Men's News ma long Jeoung Youngsik Marcos Freitas Ma Long. Jun Mizutani
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