Olympics-Table Tennis-Egypt’s Assar leaves its mark after the heated semi-finals

TOKYO (Reuters) – Egyptian Omar Assar lost an average of 4-1 in a fight against defending champion Ma Long, but he leaves with confidence as the first paddler to attack his country in the Olympic semifinals.

In a match where the oohs and aahs echoed inside a slightly empty gym, Rio single gold medalist Ma bent his muscles, but Assar persevered and cornered his opponent with claws, a long rally.

Assar, world number 43, won the odds in previous rounds after beating world number 9 Mattias Falck and number 27 Chuang Chih-Yuan.

I think these games were very important to me, Assar told me about their overall performance in the Tokyo games.

I know what my strengths are, what my weaknesses are. I’m now trying to be more confident that I can reach many balls and replenish my ball at the table, he told Reuters, thinking about his overall performance at the Tokyo Games.

Chinese winner Ma will fight in the Olympic semifinals with his compatriots Chen Meng, Fan Zhendong and Sun Yingshan.

World number one paddler Chen had to dig deep and fight to beat Hong Kong’s Doo Hoi Kemi 4-2 as he offered to maintain Chinas ’unbeaten record in the women’s women’s singles.

At the Olympics, up to the last point, anything can happen. As long as I don’t give up, I can turn it around, Chen said.

The match was interrupted several times by a referee who ordered Doo to cover the brand in his shorts with black tape that was constantly dropped.

Doo said the distraction did not affect his play.

I felt like my performance was better compared to the previous two matches I played yesterday. I was able to use all the tactics I had planned with my coach before the match, and I gave it my all, Doo told Reuters.

Sun, who finished third in the world, earned a semi-final place with a 4-0 win in all three matches.

Japanese medalist favorite Mima Ito, the biggest competitor in the Chinese heavyweight series, held his run with a sure 4-0 win over South Korea’s Jeon Jihee.

In the men’s singles, Fan broke 29-year-old South Korean Jeoung Youngsik 4-0.

I was able to play a steady match as I expected. I knew it was a tough match because it was against a world-class player who has played in the Rio games. I made the preparations by making changes to my tactics, Fan told Reuters.

The 24-year-old said he used unusual methods to maintain motivation.

It can sometimes be a beat or talk to myself. I do things that make me feel positive on the spot, he said.

Singaporeans Yu Mengyu, Taiwanese Lin Yun Ju and German paddler Dimitrij Ovtcharov will also advance to the semi-finals.