Table tennis
Ovtcharov loses Olympic revenge against Ma Long
Dimitrij Ovtcharov also lost his 20th match against Ma Long. photo
© Zhang Fan/XinHua/dpa
In the 2021 Olympic semifinals, both played one of the best table tennis matches in history. In Frankfurt the duel between Ovtcharov and Ma Long once again went for the Chinese.
The German Table tennis star Dimitrij Ovtcharov lost his Olympic revenge against the Chinese Ma Long.
At the WTT Champions tournament in Frankfurt, the former world number one lost to the three-time individual world champion in the quarterfinals in 0:3 sets (7:11, 7:11, 7:11).
The 35-year-old Ovtcharov is still waiting for his first win against what he believes to be the best table tennis player in history. The balance between the two is 20-0 for Ma Long after 20 direct duels at international tournaments.
The most famous and best game between the two was the semifinals at the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021. Ma Long, also 35 years old, only won against Ovtcharov 11:9 in the seventh set.
His semi-final opponent in Frankfurt is now the 17-year-old Frenchman Felix Lebrun. After defending a match point, the number eight in the world rankings won 3-2 against the Timo Boll conqueror Lee Sang Su from South Korea.