SPORT / MISCELLANY
Paddlers kick off Olympic singles campaign with mixed feelings
China's Fan Zhendong and Ma Long, seeded 1-2 in table tennis at Tokyo 2020, opened their men's singles campaign on Tuesday with nervousness and excitement.
Fan claimed a straight-set victory over Emmanuel Lebesson 11-3, 11-4, 11-3, 11-4 to make the round of 16, where the world No.1 defeated Portugal's Marcos Freitas in 38 minutes.
"I'm a little bit nervous at the very first Olympic match of my career, just as I expected," said the 24-year-old. "But I'm excited too, since the Olympic stage is so big and the best athletes in the world are gathering here."
"What really matters for me is to keep focused on my own game and to keep calm and prepared for whatever happens on this court," he added.
Fan's next match against Freitas was just a few hours away.
"The tight schedule and the long trip between the Olympic Village and the venues, are all parts of the competitions," he commented. "I'm not thinking too much of these kinds of problems."
China's Xu Xin and Liu Shiwen missed out on the first table tennis gold on offer at Tokyo 2020, going down to Japan's Jun Mizutani and Mima Ito on Monday evening, but Fan played down the significance of his teammates' failure.
"This is the Olympics," he said. "Cruel competitions are happening every day and everywhere. What I need to do is just to focus on my own game and move forward step by step to my ultimate goal."
Fan was echoed by three-time Olympian Ma Long, who stumbled before beating Kamal Achanta of India 11-7, 8-11, 13-11, 11-4, 11-4.
Ma also advanced to the last eight after defeating Frenchman Simon Gauzy in the evening.
"No one can be really relaxed here since every game could be a crucial one," said Ma, a Grand Slam winner and the defending Olympic men's singles champion.
"It's the Olympics, where you can't say it's good or bad to be young or old. I just try to deal with every problem coming up to me, while my experience from previous Games might not help."
Fan claimed a straight-set victory over Emmanuel Lebesson 11-3, 11-4, 11-3, 11-4 to make the round of 16, where the world No.1 defeated Portugal's Marcos Freitas in 38 minutes.
"I'm a little bit nervous at the very first Olympic match of my career, just as I expected," said the 24-year-old. "But I'm excited too, since the Olympic stage is so big and the best athletes in the world are gathering here."
"What really matters for me is to keep focused on my own game and to keep calm and prepared for whatever happens on this court," he added.
Fan's next match against Freitas was just a few hours away.
"The tight schedule and the long trip between the Olympic Village and the venues, are all parts of the competitions," he commented. "I'm not thinking too much of these kinds of problems."
China's Xu Xin and Liu Shiwen missed out on the first table tennis gold on offer at Tokyo 2020, going down to Japan's Jun Mizutani and Mima Ito on Monday evening, but Fan played down the significance of his teammates' failure.
"This is the Olympics," he said. "Cruel competitions are happening every day and everywhere. What I need to do is just to focus on my own game and move forward step by step to my ultimate goal."
Fan was echoed by three-time Olympian Ma Long, who stumbled before beating Kamal Achanta of India 11-7, 8-11, 13-11, 11-4, 11-4.
Ma also advanced to the last eight after defeating Frenchman Simon Gauzy in the evening.
"No one can be really relaxed here since every game could be a crucial one," said Ma, a Grand Slam winner and the defending Olympic men's singles champion.
"It's the Olympics, where you can't say it's good or bad to be young or old. I just try to deal with every problem coming up to me, while my experience from previous Games might not help."
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