Olympic Media Notes: Sunday 1st August Day Seven Highlights: Friday 30th July Men's Singles: Bronze Medal (GER), the no.7 seed beat Lin Yun-Ju (TPE), the no.5 seed (13-11, 9-11, 6- 11, 11-4, 4-11, 15-13, 11-7), saving four match points in the sixth game. It is the second time that Ovtcharov has won bronze in the men's singles event at an . In (2012), he beat a player from Chinese Taipei to secure the third step of the podium. On that occasion, he accounted for Chuang Chih-Yuan (TPE).

Dimitrij Ovtcharov has won a medal in every Olympic Games in which he has competed. Additionally, he won men's team silver in (2008), men's team bronze in London (2012) and (2016).

It is the second time that Lin Yun-Ju has finished in fourth place in the Olympic arena. At the Buenos Aires 2018 . he was beaten by Kanak Jha (USA) in the bronze medal contest.

Dimitrij Ovtcharov (GER) has now won three of the seven matches against Lin Yun-Ju (TPE) at international level. He won the two most recent both this year, with the other being in the men's singles final at the WTT Contender tournament in early March in Qatar. It's the first time the men's singles bronze medal match at an Olympic Games has gone the full distance.

Men's Singles: Gold Medal (CHN), the no.2 seed, beat (CHN), the no.1 seed (11-4, 10-12, 11-8, 11-9, 3-11, 11-7). Five Chinese players have won the men's singles title at an Olympic Games: Guoliang (1996), (2000), (2008), (2012), Ma Long (2016, 2020).

Ma Long (CHN) becomes the first player to retain the men's singles title at an Olympic Games and win on two occasions. He has won whenever he has played; in London, in 2012, he only played in the men's team event.

Ma Long has now won 16 of his 21 matches against Fan Zhendong at international level, yet as of 2019, it is only the third time he has succeeded in seven meetings.

Since first appeared at the Olympic Games in Seoul in 1988, it was the sixth all- Chinese men's singles final. The exceptions: Seoul 1988 when Yoo Namkyu (KOR) bt Kim Kaitaek (KOR), Barcelona 1992 when Jan-Ove Waldner (SWE) overcame Jean-Philippe Gatien (FRA) and Athens 2004 when Ryu Seungmin (KOR) accounted for Wang Hao (CHN).

Looking ahead Men's Team Event: Round One 10.00 Slovenia (Darko Jorgic, Bojan Tokic, Deni Kozul) v Korea Republic (Jang Woojin, Jeoung Youngsik, Lee Sangsu) Slovenia (12): Darko Jorgic (SLO) overcame (JPN) to reach the men's singles quarter- finals. He was beaten by Lin Yun-Ju (TPE).

Bojan Tokic (SLO) lost to Hugo Calderano (BRA) in round three. Deni Kozul (SLO) makes his debut Appearances: first for Slovenia

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Korea Republic (4): Jeoung Youngsik (KOR) beat (GER) to reach the men's singles quarter-finals. Eventually, he lost to Fan Zhendong (CHN). Jang Woojin (KOR) lost to Hugo Calderano (BRA) in round four. Lee Sangsu (KOR) partnered with Jeon Jihee (KOR); they reached the quarter-finals. Appearances: bronze in Beijing (2008), silver in London (2012), fourth place Rio de Janeiro (2016)

10.00 Chinese Taipei (Chen Chien-An, Chuang Chih-Yuan, Lin Yun-Ju) v Croatia (Andrej Gacina, Frane Kojic, Tomislav Pucar) Chinese Taipei (7): Lin Yun-Ju finished fourth in the men's singles, having triumphed as a bronze medallist with Cheng I-Ching at the mixed doubles. Chuang Chih-Yuan (TPE) was beaten in the fourth round of the men's singles by Omar Assar (EGY). Chen Chien-An (TPE) makes his first appearance in . Appearances: lost bronze medal play-off round one in Beijing (2008), lost round one Rio de Janeiro (2016)

Croatia (10) Andrej Gacina (CRO) lost in men's singles round two to (FRA) Tomislav Pucar (CRO) lost in men's singles round two to Bojan Tokic (SLO) Frane Kojic (CRO) makes his first appearance in Tokyo Appearances: lost bronze medal play-off round one in Beijing (2008)

14.30 Brazil (Hugo Calderano, , Vitor Ishiy) v Serbia (Dimitrije Levajac, Marko Jevtovic, Zolt Peto) Brazil (6) Hugo Calderano (BRA) reached the men's singles quarter-finals losing to Dimitrij Ovtcharov (GER).

Gustavo Tsuboi (BRA) beat (NGR) in the men's singles before losing to Lin Yun-Ju (TPE) in round four.

Vitor Ishiy (BRA) makes his Olympic Games debut.

Appearances: eliminated in the group stage in Beijing (2008), lost round one in London (2012), lost round one in Rio de Janeiro (2016).

Serbia (15) Dimitrije Levajac lost in the first round of the men's singles event. He was beaten by Kirill Skachkov (RUS)

Zolt Peto (SRB) lost in the first round of the men's singles event. He experienced defeat when facing Panagiotis Gionis (GRE).

Marko Jevtovic makes his Tokyo debut. Appearances: first for Serbia.

14.30 Hong Kong (Ho Kwan Kit, Lam Siu Hang, ) v France (Alexandre Cassin, Emmanuel Lebesson, Simon Gauzy)

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Hong Kong (11) Wong Chun Ting suffered a surprise third-round men's singles defeat. He was beaten by Chuang Chih-Yuan (TPE). Lam Siu Hang progressed to men's singles third round. He lost to Tomokazu Harimoto (JPN). Ho Kwan Kit (HKG) makes his first appearance in Tokyo. Appearances: lost in the bronze medal round two in Beijing (2008), fourth place in London (2012), quarter-final in Rio de Janeiro (2016).

France (8): Emmanuel Lebesson (FRA) was beaten in round three of the men's singles event by Fan Zhendong (CHN). Partnering Yuan Jia Nan (FRA), he finished in fourth place in the mixed doubles. Simon Gauzy (FRA) was beaten in men's singles round four by Ma Long (CHN). Alexandre Cassin (FRA) makes his Olympic Games debut. Appearances: lost in round one in Rio de Janeiro (2016).

Women's Team Event: Round One 10.00 Hong Kong (, Lee Ho Ching, Minnie Soo Wai Yam) v Brazil (Caroline Kumahara, Bruna Takahashi, Jessica Yamada) Hong Kong (4) Doo Hoi Kem (HKG) reached the quarter-finals of the women's singles event losing to (CHN). Minnie Soo Wai Yam (HKG) was beaten by Maria Xiao (ESP) in the second round of the women's singles. Lee Ho Ching (HKG) makes her first appearance in Tokyo. Appearances: lost in the bronze medal round two in Beijing (2008), quarter-final in London (2012) and Rio de Janeiro (2016).

Brazil (15) Bruna Takahashi lost in Yuan Ji Nan (FRA) in women's singles round two. Jessica Yamada lost to Rachel Moret (SUI) in women's singles round one. Caroline Kumahara makes her first appearance in Tokyo. Appearances: lost in round one in London (2012) and Rio de Janeiro (2016)

10.00 Egypt (Farah Abdelaziz, Yousra Helmy, Dina Meshref) v Romania (Daniela Monteiro Dodean, Elizabeta Samara, Bernadette Szocs) Egypt (14) Dina Meshref reached round three in the women's singles event, the furthest ever by a player from an African nation or Arabic speaking country. She was beaten by Britt Eerland (NED). Yousra Helmy (EGY) lost in the first round of the women's singles. She experienced defeat when opposing Yuan Ji Nan (FRA). Farah Abdelaziz (EGY) makes her Olympic Games debut Appearances: lost in the first round in London (2012) and Rio de Janeiro (2016)

Romania (8) Elizabeta Samara (ROU) reached the third round of the women's singles. She was surprisingly beaten by Suthasini Sawettabut (THA). Bernadette Szocs (ROU) suffered an unexpected third round women's singles defeat. She lost to Liu Juan (USA). Partnering with , Bernadette Szocs reached the mixed doubles quarter-finals. Daniela Monteiro-Dodean (ROU) makes her first appearance in Tokyo. Appearances: lost in the bronze medal round one in Beijing (2008), lost a round Rio de Janeiro.

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14.30 Australia (Michelle Bromley, , ) v Germany (Han Ying, Shan Xiaona, ) Australia Michelle Bromley (AUS) was beaten in the first round of the women's singles by Natalia Partyka (POL) Jian Fang Lay (AUS) reached the women's singles second round; Li Qian (POL) ended progress. Melissa Tapper (AUS) makes her first appearance in Tokyo. Appearances: eliminated in the group stage in Beijing (2008), lost in the first round in London (2012) and Rio de Janeiro (2016)

Germany Han Ying (GER) reached the women's singles quarter-final. She lost to bronze medallist Sung Yingsha (CHN). Petrissa Solja (GER) experienced a surprise third-round women's singles defeat when facing Zhang Mo (CAN). Shan Xiaona (GER) makes her first appearance in Tokyo. Appearances: eliminated in the group stage in Beijing (2008), quarter-finalists in London (2012), silver medallists in Rio de Janeiro (2016).

19.30 Chinese Taipei (Chen Szu-Yu, Cheng Hsien-Tzu, Cheng I-Ching) v United States (Liu Juan, Wang Huijing, ) Chinese Taipei Chen Szu-Yu (TPE) reached the fourth round of the women's singles, losing to (CHN), the eventual silver medallist. Cheng I-Ching (TPE) experienced a surprise third-round defeat at the hands of Yu Mengyu (SGP). Cheng Hsien-Tzu (TPE) makes her Olympic Games debut.

United States Lily Zhang was beaten by Chen Szu-Yu (TPE) in the third round of the women's singles event; they could meet again. Liu Yuan surprising reached the fourth round of the women's singles. Notably, she beat Bernadette Szocs (ROU) before losing to Yu Mengyu (SGP). Wang Huijing makes her Olympic Games debut

Top Names Men's Team 19.30 (Fan Zhendong Ma Long, ) v Egypt (Khalid Assar, Omar Assar, Ahmed Saleh) China (1) Ma Long (CHN) won men's singles gold. Fan Zhendong (CHN) secured men's singles silver. Xu Xin (CHN) partnered (CHN) to mixed doubles silver. Appearances: gold in Beijing (2008), gold in London (2012), gold in Rio de Janeiro (2016).

Egypt (13) Omar Assar (EGY) excelled in reaching the men's singles quarter-finals. He beat (SWE) and Chuang Chih-Yuan (TPE) before losing to Ma Long. He became the first player from an Arabic speaking country to reach the last eight in any event. Ahmed Saleh was beaten in the second round of the men's singles by Panagiotis Gionis (GRE). Khalid Assar makes his first appearance in Tokyo

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Appearances: lost in the round of 16 in London (2012)

19.30 Germany (Timo Boll, , Dimitrij Ovtcharov) v Portugal (Tiago Apolonia, , João Monteiro) Germany (2) Timo Boll (GER) was defeated by Jeoung Youngsik (KOR) in the third round of the men's singles. Dimitrij Ovtcharov (GER) emerged as the men's singles bronze medallist. Patrick Franziska (GER) partnered Petrissa Solja (GER) in the mixed doubles. They were beaten by the champions-elect (JPN) and (JPN) in the quarter-finals after holding seven match points.

Portugal (9) Tiago Apolonia (POR) was beaten in the second round of the men's singles by Sharath Kamal Achanta (IND). Marcos Freitas (POR) experienced a men's singles fourth round defeat by Fan Zhendong (CHN). João Monteiro (POR) makes his first appearance in Tokyo Appearances: silver in Beijing (2008), bronze in London (2012) and Rio de Janeiro (2016)

Women's Team 14.30 China (Chen Meng, Liu Shiwen, Sun Yingsha) v Austria (Liu Jia, Liu Yuan, Sofia Polcanova) China (1) Chen Meng (CHN) won women's singles gold. Sun Yingsha (CHN) secured women's singles silver. Liu Shiwen (CHN) emerged as the mixed doubles silver medallist partnering Xu Xin (CHN). Appearances: gold in Beijing (2008), London (2012) and Rio de Janeiro (2016).

Austria (12) Liu Jia (AUT) reached the fourth round of the women's singles event losing to Jeon Jihee (KOR); one round earlier, she had caused an upset by overcoming Adriana Diaz (PUR). Sofia Polcanova (AUT) experienced a somewhat surprise third-round defeat when opposing Manika Batra (IND). Liu Yuan (AUT) makes her Olympic Games debut. Appearances: eliminated in the group stage in Beijing (2008), lost in round one in London (2012), lost in quarter-finals in Rio de Janeiro.

19.30 Japan (, , Mima Ito) v Hungary (Maria Fazekas, Dora Madarasz, Szandra Pergel) Japan Mima Ito (JPN) won women's singles bronze. Kasumi Ishikawa (JPN) experienced a somewhat unexpected quarter-final defeat when opposing Yu Mengyu (SGP). Miu Hirano (JPN) makes her Olympic Games debut. She competed at the Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games being a women's singles silver medallist and with Tomokazu Harimoto, a mixed team silver medallist. Appearances: Fourth place in Beijing (2008), silver in London (2012), bronze in Rio de Janeiro (2016)

Hungary Dora Madarasz was beaten in the first round of the women's singles by Offiong Edem (NGR) Maria Fazekas (HUN) replaces Georgina Pota (HUN), who has withdrawn owing to a shoulder injury. She was beaten in the second round of the women's singles by Rachel Moret (SUI).

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Szandra Pergel makes her Olympic Games debut. Appearance: first appearance

Event Fast Facts The men's team and women's team events were introduced at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. They replaced the men's doubles and women's doubles events. One condition was that doubles should be part of the team event.

In Beijing (2008), London (2012) and Rio de Janeiro (2016), the doubles was the third match in a fixture; in Tokyo, the doubles is the first match, followed by four singles. A fixture stops when one team has won three matches.

No player in one fixture may play in more than two matches; thus, two players are scheduled for one doubles and one singles, one player for two singles.

In Beijing (2008), play commenced with four groups, four teams in each group. Teams finishing in first place in each group advanced to the semi-finals. The semi-final winners competed for gold and silver, the teams finishing in second position in each group plus the semi-final losers contested bronze.

Since London (2012), team events have been contested on the knock-out principle from the start. There is a bronze medal fixture.

Player Fast Facts It is the first time at an Olympic Games there has been no left-hander in the Chinese women's team; in 2008 in Beijing, both (CHN) and (CHN) played, in 2012 in London (CHN)and Guo Yue (CHN), in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Ding Ning (CHN).

Chen Chien-An and Chuang Chih-Yuan form a strong doubles pair. They won the men's doubles title at the Liebherr 2013 World Championships but, as a partnership, never reached an ITTF World Tour men's doubles final.

Options for China's men's team in the doubles; Xu Xin and Ma Long won the men's doubles title at the 2011 World Championships, Xu Xin and Fan Zhendong at the 2017 World Championships. Timo Boll (GER) and Patrick Franziska (GER) are a likely doubles option for the German men's team. They have three ITTF World Tour titles to their name, but earlier this year. In June, they experienced a surprise first-round defeat in the Liebherr 2020 European Championships. They were beaten by the combination of Dargo Jorgic (SLO) and Tomislav Pucar (CRO).

Portugal meets Germany in the first round of the men's team event. In the men's team final at the Liebherr 2014 European Championships in . The Portuguese were well worth their win. However, Timo Boll was not entirely fit, Dimitrij Ovtcharov was recovering from major tooth surgery, and Steffen Mengel replaced Patrick Franziska. He was hobbling on crutches having earlier in the tournament twisted his ankle. The Portuguese team in Tokyo is the same as Lisbon, Tiago Apolonia, Marcos Freitas and João Monteiro. Timo Boll (GER) and Dimitrij Ovtcharov (GER) have been ever-present for Germany since the men's team event was introduced in 2008 in Beijing.

Jeoung Youngsik (KOR) and Lee Sangsu (KOR) form the likely doubles pairing for the Korea Republic men's team; they have won five ITTF World Tour men's doubles titles. Hugo Calderano (BRA) is the only member of the Brazilian team in Tokyo not descended from the Japanese immigration at the start of the 20th century. All others must feel at home in Japan's capital city – Gustavo Tsuboi (BRA), Vitor Ishiy (BRA), Caroline Kumahara (BRA), Bruna Takahashi (BRA) and Jessica Yamada (BRA).

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Omar Assar (EGY) and Khalid Assar (EGY) join Ahmed Saleh (EGY) in the Egyptian men's team. It is the first time siblings have played in a team event, male or female. Both played in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro but only in the men's singles. Egypt did not qualify for the men's team event. In the Egyptian women's team, Dina Meshref and Yousra Helmy are cousins.

Daniela Monteiro Dodean (ROU) and Elizabeta Samara (ROU) may well form the doubles partnership in the Romanian women's team. They became European women's doubles champions in 2009 in Stuttgart and 2012 in Herning.

A doubles option for the German women's team in Shan Xiaona and Petrissa Solja is the reigning European women's doubles champions. They have three ITTF World Tour women's doubles titles to their name.

Miu Hirano and Kasumi Ishikawa is the option of a possible double for the Japan women's team; they have one ITTF World Tour women's doubles title to their name, they won in 2020 in .

Maria Fazekas (HUN) is the replacement for the injured Georgina Pota (HUN) in the Hungarian women's team. She is 45 years old, it is. It is her second Olympic Games appearance. The previous was in 2004 in Athens when she was beaten in the second round of the women's singles by Kim Hyang Mi (PRK), the eventual silver medallist.

5 Matches To Watch 10.00 Men's Team: Slovenia (12) v Korea Republic (4) 14.30 Men's Team: Hong Kong (11) v France (8) 14.30 Men's Team: Brazil (6) v Serbia (15) 19.30 Men's Team: Portugal (9) v Germany (2) 19.30 Women's Team: Chinese Taipei (5) v United States (9)

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