The upset that Paris shook
Fresh from his mixed Doubles Gold Medal Triumph only 24 hours earlier, Wang Chuqin came in his round of 32 collision as the overwhelming favorite. But Moregard had other plans. The Swedish sensation produced the performance of his life and defeated the then world no. 1 and newly crowned Olympic champion with 4-2 (12-10, 11-7, 5-11, 7-11, 11-9, 11-6) in a result that shock waves sent by South Paris Arena 4.
The reaction of Wang Chuqin then conquered the brutal nature of the Olympic sport: “My opponent had some changes in his portions and I did not respond well enough to them. I was absolutely down. I had the field. I had such a high of winning the mixed double gold yesterday. I think this is where competitive sport is about.”
Little anyone knew at the time, but this victory would be the catalyst for the incredible journey from Moregard to the silver medal.
French magic and German heartache
The home crowd was treated to a new spectacular upset when 17-year-old Felix Lebrun delivered a master class against six-time Olympic medal winner Dimitrij OVTcharov. In an epic seven-game thriller, the young Frenchman showed the steel nerves to beat the German legend 4-3 (11-9, 15-13, 12-10, 8-11, 3-11, 8-11, 11-7).
“The pressure was high today and he fought it back to even 3-3,” Felix then reflected. “But I think I managed it well and treated the most important points. I started the game very well and I also used the most important points well with the crowd.”
The victory marked the end of the search of OVTCharov for a seventh Olympic medal, while he launched Felix Lebrun at what would be the most successful Olympic table tennis campaign of France ever.
Generational collision and Brazilian sparkle
In one of the most heart-warming stories of the day, the 61-year-old Luxembourg veteran Ni Xia Lian faced World No. 1 Sun Yingsha in a competition that perfectly conquered the Olympic mind. Despite the 4-0 result in favor of the Chinese star, the participation of the veteran earned her sixth Olympic Games and everyone reminded everyone of the lasting attraction of the sport.
In the meantime, Hugo Calderano of Brazil broke French hearts by beating Alexis Lebrun with 4-1, with the impressive footwork and adaptability that would take him to the quarterfinals for the second consecutive Olympic Games.
While day 5 ended with the completion of the round of 16, the quarterfinals promised more drama. Sofia Polcanova had turned with a dominant 4-0 win and became the first quarter-finalist of the Games. Defending champion Chen Meng had conquered ‘Supermom’ Britt Eerland in a hard -fought battle, while India celebrated as both Manika Batra and the birthday girl Sreeja Akula to create history for their nation.
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