PARIS (AP) — Kanak Jha secured the U.S. its best Olympic run in men’s table tennis by reaching the last 16 at the Paris Games on Wednesday, while the shock of the tournament came when world No. 1 Wang Chuqin of China lost to 26th-ranked Truls Moregard of Sweden.
Jha, the 120th-ranked player in the world, beat Panagiotis Gionis of Greece 4-2 to top Jimmy Butler’s round-of-32 appearance at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
“We’re just taking one match at a time, and not thinking about the first ever or whatever,” U.S. men’s team coach Mark Hazinski said.
The 24-year-old Jha, who prepared for the Games with help from GoFundMe, said he was “feeling relieved.”
“The match was very tough,” he said. “He came back 3-2, if it had gone to seven sets, it would be in (his) advantage.”
Jha will now face Tokyo 2020 silver medalist Fan Zhendong.
The major upset came when Wang lost 4-2 to Moregard in their round-of-32 match. Wang had won the gold in mixed doubles Tuesday.
“I definitely felt very down coming off the court,” the 24-year-old Wang said. “I had such a high yesterday from winning the mixed doubles gold. To go from that to this low, I guess this is what competitive sport is about. It’s all on me, I didn’t have the ability to win today. I wasn’t enough, I’ve got to go back to reflect.”
The 22-year-old Moregard, who is not even the highest ranked player in Sweden, will face Kao Cheng-Jui in the last 16.
61-year-old bows out
Luxembourg’s 61-year-old Ni Xia Lian was eliminated in the women’s single after losing 4-0 to world No. 1 Sun Yingsha of China.
The veteran player was competing in her sixth Olympics and was the oldest table tennis player in Paris. She had become the oldest player to win a table tennis match in the Olympics in the previous round.
French sensation
Felix Lebrun, the 17-year-old who is one of the rising stars of the sport, reached the last eight by defeating Dimitrij Ovtcharov 4-3 despite squandering a 3-0 lead.
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“The pressure was high today, and he fought back to even it at 3-3, but I think I managed it well and handled the key points,” Lebrun said. “I think I managed my stress well.”
At No. 5 in the world, Lebrun is the highest-ranked player from anywhere outside of China. His 20-year-old brother, Alexis Lebrun, lost 4-1 to Hugo Calderano of Brazil.
Adriana Díaz of Puerto Rico, who is supported by the likes of compatriots Daddy Yankee and Bad Bunny, couldn’t stop crying after relinquishing a 3-0 lead in a 4-3 loss to Pyon Song Gyong of North Korea in women’s singles.
Supermom loses
Defending champion Chen Meng of China defeated “Supermom” Britt Eerland of the Netherlands 4-1 to reach the quarterfinals.
Eerland, who is among the Olympians in Paris who also are parents, used GoFundMe to help her prepare for the Games.
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