Truls Moregard is in high spirits after he beat World No. 1 Wang Chuqin in Round 32 of the Men’s Singles Table Tennis Event at the Olympics. It is one of those occurrences you would never expect, considering China’s dominance in the sport for decades and the high stakes of such a big stage. There was a lot of drama prior to the match. Just a day ago, Wang Chuqin, along with Sun Yingsha, made history by delivering China’s first-ever gold medal in mixed doubles—a feat that had eluded Team China despite its decades of dominance. Right after the mixed doubles championship, a cameraman accidentally stepped on Wang Chuqin’s racket and broke it. Wang was seen very disappointed, almost ready to confront the cameraman, but was quickly calmed down by his coach, Xiao Zhan.
A lot of fans wondered how the incident might affect his future games, including myself. I have had several experiences in the past where I felt like my racket was not perfectly set up, and it had a psychological effect on my game. Obviously, Wang would not use the broken racket, but considering he had to replace it with a new one—and who knows, that racket might have had sentimental value due to the mixed doubles gold from the day before—it could have been impactful.
Truls Moregard came in very sharp in the first two sets, winning them 12-10 and 11-7. Wang Chuqin evened the score in the next two sets, 11-5 and 11-7. Moregard then took over the fifth and sixth sets, 11-9 and 11-6 respectively, sealing victory in one of the greatest performances of his career.
It was a roller coaster for Wang, winning China’s first-ever mixed doubles gold medal one day, and then falling to one of the greatest upsets in table tennis history the next. To his credit, Wang Chuqin never made any excuse with the racket incident although personally I believe that affected him in some way. Table tennis at the Paris Olympics has started off with great excitement, and I cannot wait for the next series of events to unfold.
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