(by Steve Hopkins)
A major upset rocked the Round of 32 this morning when Truls Moregard upended World No. 1 Wang Chuqin 4-2. The momentum of their match had several swings, but Moregard managed to win both of the close games and that was the difference (12-10, 11-7, 5-11, 7-11, 11-9, 11-6). Moregard now slots into the strongest position in the draw as he will face Korea’s Kao Cheng-Jui this afternoon in the Round of 16. The winner of the Moregard/Kao match will face Omar Assar who has already emerged into the Round of 16. Assar eliminated Kirill Gerassimenko 4-2 earlier today.
In the second fourth of the draw, the top two seeds have emerged to face each other. Jan Woojin and Hugo Calderano have each advanced with relative ease. Jang Woojin beat Shunsuke Togami 4-0 earlier today. Hugo Calderano faced Alexis Lebrun, and dispensed one of the host country’s favorites 4-1.
In the bottom half of the draw, Felix Lebrun and Lin Yun-Ju appeared to be on a collision course. Another match pitting the top two seeds in this fourth of the draw against each other in the Quarters. Felix Lebrun needed all seven games earlier today to defeat Dimitrij Ovtcharov. Lin Yun-Ju advanced past Darko Jorgic 4-0. Jorgic and Lin will face off with the winner advancing to the Medal Rounds.
The last two matchups in the Round of 16 are Harimoto and Anders Lind and Kanak Jha and Fan Zhendong. Harimoto should be a strong favorite in his match, but Lind is creative and streaky and capable of playing up to most challenges.
USA’s Kanak Jha has already exceeded most expectations by winning three matches in Paris. A win here would be epic – but expect to see a free-swinging, pressure-free Kanak Jha. For Fan Zhendong, anything short of a Gold Medal would now be a disappointment. He has spent much of the last decade dominating the rankings, but he has been victim of a downward trend for the last year and is now looking upward from the World No. 4 spot and three Chinese players ahead of him. With Chuqin’s loss, this is a perfect opportunity for Fan to retake the headlines as Olympic Champion – but at the same time, he may feel the pressure of his whole country as the only Chinese player remaining in the draw.
The Women’s Draw often lacks the upsets and excitement of the Men’s side. Sun Yingsha and Chen Meng have each advanced with relative ease thus far. PRK’s (North Korea) Pyon Song Gyong has had a surprising run into the Quarterfinals, defeating Nina Mittelham and Adriana Diaz along the way. Sofia Polcanova also pulled off a small upset over Bernadette Szocs in their Round of 32 match to advance to the Quarters. American eyes will be focused on Lily Zhang versus Shin Yubin later today, hoping for a third upset (hoping to see Lily Zhang reach the Quarters).
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In the US, NBC will be providing broadcasts of the Summer Olympic Games through their various NBCUniversal networks. That coverage includes the main broadcast on the NBC network as well as other broadcasts on NBC Sports Peacock, NBCSN, and streaming coverage at www.nbcolympics.com. You can jump straight to our sport to see all of the coverage options by going directly to the schedule link at nbcolympics.com.
ButterflyOnline.com will continue to provide updates of TeamUSA throughout the Games.
