Olympic Games | 29 Jul 2024

Paris 2024, Day 3: Fantastic Win for LIND

Photo: Courtesy ITTF

Day 3 of the Paris 2024 Olympics table tennis tournament saw some thrilling matches and surprising upsets.

Ranked No. 62, Anders LIND of Denmark caused a major upset by defeating World No. 17 Marcos FREITAS of Portugal to secure his place in the Round of 32 with a 4-0 victory (11-9, 11-6, 11-8, 11-4).

“I am so happy to win my first match on my Olympic Games debut. I was so nervous before the match, but fortunately, the nerves disappeared when the match started. Though I am still not sure it is not a dream. I am afraid to hear the alarm clock wake me up. I never thought I would win 4-0 against FREITAS. So proud now,” said LIND.

His coach Linus MERNSTEN praised his performance, saying,

“His serve returns were fantastic. It was a perfect performance.”

While Spain’s Alvaro ROBLES needed six games to overcome Austria’s Daniel HABESOHN (11-6, 14-16, 11-9, 9-11, 11-7, 11-9) to advance to the Round of 32, Romania’s Ovidiu IONESCU was eliminated. World No. 68, Croatia’s Andrej GACINA, defeated the Romanian ranked at No. 45 with a 4-1 victory (11-8, 10-12, 11-8, 12-10, 11-5). In the next round, GACINA will face Yun-Ju LIN of Taipei. Fiji’s Vicky WU proved too weak for Liam PITCHFORD of Great Britain, losing in straight sets (6-11, 3-11, 3-11, 2-11).

Jia Nan YUAN delighted the home crowd in Paris with a smooth start, defeating Fatimo BELLO of Nigeria 4-0 (11-1, 11-3, 11-3, 11-5) in their Round of 64 clash. The encounter lasted just 18 minutes, three minutes faster than the previous fastest match in the Paris singles matches so far. In the Round of 32, YUAN will meet Mo ZHANG of Canada.

In a similar style, Nina MITTELHAM of Germany beat Minhyung JEE of Australia (11-7, 11-9, 11-7, 11-8) to become the third German to reach the second round of the Olympic table tennis tournament. The European runner-up from Berlin will now compete for a spot in the Round of 16, just like her national teammates Dang QIU and Dimitrij OVTCHAROV, who qualified yesterday and the day before.

"I didn’t find her game unpleasant and didn’t have many issues with her spin. That also has to do with me feeling good overall. When my legs are working, I play well against material players. When I was small, around ten or twelve years old, I played against anti-spin and long pips every day, often against older players. You learn best through matches," said MITTELHAM. "My nervousness was actually gone after the first two balls. It came back a bit at the end when it was time to close out the match. I played well and moved well. I hope it continues like this."

MITTELHAM acknowledges the challenge ahead: "I don’t know her. Together with my coach Tamy (Tamara BOROS), I watched her match against Doo Hoi KEM on the bus yesterday. We will analyze it thoroughly later. It will be a tough match. The North Koreans play without seeding but are incredibly good. You saw that in the mixed doubles, where another North Korean reached the semifinals. You can’t underestimate them. I’m looking forward to the match. I have nothing to lose."

Poland’s Natalia BAJOR moved into the Round of 32 with a 4-3 victory (11-8, 3-11, 8-11, 11-7, 12-10, 5-11, 11-6) over Suthasini SAWETTABUT. Next up for BAJOR is a battle against Fu YU of Portugal. The Team Poland member will enter that match as the underdog, with a 0:2 record against her opponent. However, with their last matchup dating back to 2018, there could be plenty of surprises in store from BAJOR.

The duel between Swede Linda BERGSTROM, ranked No. 34, and Poland’s Katarzyna WEGRZYN, ranked No. 134, concluded in favor of the lower-ranked player after five games (11-7, 9-11, 14-12, 11-9, 11-6).