Some of the top 16 seeds in the Singles Event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic tournament already felt the heat of the action in the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium today on the third day of play. In Round three Timo BOLL of Germany no. 8 seed and Marcos Freitas of Portugal no. 16 seed booked their places in Round of 16.
Liam PITCHFORD of GB seeded no. 11 also commenced his journey today but it was Darko JORGIC who beat the odds and progressed forward after 4:2 victory.
In Women’s Singles Event no. 10 seed Sofia POLCANOVA of Austria justified her status and sealed her Olympic premiere in Japan with the straight games victory over Manika BATRA of India.
Marcos FREITAS of Portugal overcame Daniel HABESOHN 4:3 (11:7 3:11 11:7 11:6 11:13 2:11 11:3).
โIt us never easy to play the first match at the tournament. In addition I played against someone I know very well and he knows me. We have been practicing together in in Vienna in SCHLAGER Academy for a few years โ explained FREITAS.โ I had a good start by making a 3:1 gap and I had 7:3 moved forward to three match points. Then I failed to seal the match and HABESOHN pushed to the decisive game. Then it become very difficult to keep the focus to stay in the match mentally.โ
Timo BOLL of Germany prevailed against Kirill GERASSIMENKO of Kazakhstan 4:1 (7:11 11:6 11:7 11:2 11:1)
โIn every tournament at the beginning I am little nervous. I am searching for the right touch at the ball. The Olympics are not exception to the rule it is even harder. GERASSIMENKO took advantage of already playing one match at the tournament. He played stronger in the opening stage of the encounter. I am happy that I managed to change the course of the duel in the second game when he was also in a good swing. This is our duty as professionals to find the solution when you have a problem; to believe in yourself and to rebuild the confidence even when you are not playing so well โ explained BOLL.
BOLL did the job perfectly for sure last two games ended 11:2 11:1.
โI played more focused on each point not giving Kirill any easy one. I hit some difficult points the rhythm was much better and added more spin to the service. It had a better length. Overall it become not perfect but very good match โ concluded BOLL.
Darko JORGIC beat Liam PITCHFORD 4:2 (11:8 7:11 12:10 11:13 11:9 12:10).
โYou could feel that it is Liam’s first match at the Event and that I was there already for one. There were a lot of short points;I played tactically very well. I changed the pace and the position of the service and did everything could help me won the match. In addition I had a little luck in few crucial points ut that is the sport…โ said JORGIC.
Sofia POLCANOVA of Austria beat Manika BATRA of India in straight games to reach the Round of 16 4-0 (11:8 11:2 11:5 11:7).
โI am very happy about my win today. I knew how to play against her but still it was tough in the beginning. After I felt more confident with every set that I won and could play my game. She has a different style of play from everybody here so I had to adjust. I am happy that in the end it worked so well โ explained POLCANOVA.
