Taiwan’s women’s table tennis team yesterday crushed Australia 3-0 in their round-of-16 clash to advance to the quarter-finals.
In the opening doubles match, Taiwan’s Chien Tung-chuan and Chen Szu-yu beat Australia’s Michelle Bromley and Melissa Tapper 11-4, 11-3, 11-7.
Cheng I-ching then defeated Jee Minhyung 11-5, 11-7, 11-4 in their singles match, before Chen battled to a tight 6-11, 11-5, 9-11, 11-9, 11-6 victory over Tapper to set up a quarter-final against China in Paris today.
Photo: Reuters
Germany battled past the US to secure their quarter-final spot with a 3-2 win in a clash lasting more than 2 hours, 30 minutes.
After claiming the first two matches, the higher-seeded Germans lost two singles as the US leveled the contest.
However in the decider, Germany’s 18-year-old Annett Kaufmann won the final two games 11-9, 11-8 to beat US first-time Olympian Rachel Sung 3-1 and take her team through.
“I think we can take a lot from the match and even though it’s really disappointing and heartbreaking, it’s also just as inspiring and motivating for us,” four-time US Olympian Lily Zhang said.
In the men’s team competition, China’s Ma Long made his debut in the doubles team with Wang Chuqin, who beat Indian duo Harmeet Desai and Manav Thakkar 3-0.
“This is my first game in Paris. I need to quickly get into the right state through the first match. I think I did well today,” Ma said.
At 35, Ma has won team golds at his three previous Games and back-to-back men’s singles titles in Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo, becoming the most successful Olympic table tennis player of all time.
Wang, who faced his first opponent since his shock elimination by Sweden’s Truls Moregard in the singles, brushed off questions about the paddle incident that went viral.
His paddle got broken by excited photographers who rushed to the court to capture the moment of his win in the mixed doubles gold medal match.
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