By Krystal Hu
Paris (Reuters) – China’s number two seed Fan Zhendong and defending champion Chen Meng swept past their opponents 4-0 in the first round of the men’s singles event at the Paris Olympics on Monday.
Fan beat Ukraine’s Yaroslav Zhmudenko while Chen ousted Algeria’s Lynda Loghraibi to reach the round of 32.
Fan, who posted that Paris could be his “last dance” on China’s social media platform Weibo, had lost to the great Ma Long 4-2 in the final in Tokyo without fans due to COVID-19.
“The biggest difference in this game is the atmosphere from the audience. I was here to check out the venue yesterday and to be honest, I didn’t expect this. When I play, I think it’s an inspiration to me,” said Fan.
Japan’s Tomokazu Harimoto, a major challenge to the Chinese, beat Belgium’s Martin Allegro 4-0 to bounce back from a surprise elimination by North Korea in the first round of mixed doubles.
Senegal’s Ibrahima Diaw, who was born to a Senegalese father and grew up in Paris, and Hong Kong’s Wong Chun-ting delivered a riveting performance lasting an hour before the latter triumphed 4-3, having won a particularly intense second set 18-16.
In another gripping clash, Poland’s Natalia Bajor also beat Thailand’s Suthasini Sawettabut 4-3 in another marathon match.
(Reporting by Krystal Hu in Paris; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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