Paris: Three big favorites to win Olympic gold medals for either women’s or men’s singles have been eliminated from the 2024 Paris Olympics.
In the final women’s singles group stage match for the beginning of these Olympics, Taiwan’s top player, Tai Tzu Ying, was defeated by Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon in 2 games, with scores of 19-21 and 15-21. Tai finished the group stages with 1 win and 1 loss, thus failing to advance into the quarterfinals. And unfortunately, this match marked the complete end of her Olympic Career.
Following the match, Intanon gave her a physical embrace and later expressed her own kind remarks to Tai Tzu Ying on social media.
In an instagram story, Intanon wrote: “You have always been my mirror. I wishing you a speedy recovery as soon as it could be and hope to see you around the world, Tai,” expressing sympathy for her injuries.
The matchup between Tai and Intanon runs deep, having faced each other 35 times with the record going towards Tai’s favor 20-15. Yet despite being considered “rivals,” they are genuine friends, and following Tai’s loss, both players shared tears and embraces.
For Tai Tzu Ying, the loss hit her hard, and she couldn’t hold back her emotions at the realization of the end of her Olympic run. During a rare emotional interview, she broke down in tears, struggling to speak.
Tai had announced last year that the Paris Olympics would be her final tournament before retirement. Unfortunately, earlier this year she suffered a brutal knee injury and hadn’t competed since the Uber Cup in May. Her first match back from injury was during these Olympics, where she defeated Belgium’s Lianne Tan in the group stage opener.
In her interview, she heartfeltly expressed that she initially thought she wouldn’t be able to compete again, but even in spite of these complications, this match was the best she had played in a while.
Intanon will play the winner between Gregoria Mariska Tunjung and Kim Ga-eun in the quarterfinals.
Meanwhile, on the men’s singles side, Jonatan Christie of Indonesia (World No.4) expressed his disappointment following his performance in the Group L deciding match for who would advance to the round of 16 in Paris.
Against India’s Lakshya Sen, Christie lost straight sets with scores of 18-21 and 12-21 in Group L on Wednesday.
“It’s a mixed feeling, I can’t describe it yet,” said Christie.
Furthermore in men’s singles, another top Indonesian contender, Anthony Sinisuka Ginting (World No.9), also failed to advance.
With perhaps some home court advantage, the towering, 196 cm tall Toma Junior Popov of France (World No. 20) defeated Ginting 21-19, 17-21, and 21-15 in the last men’s singles group match, advancing from Group H to compete with Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia for a spot in the quarterfinals.
Ginting had won silver this year at the All England Open but wasn’t in top form for many others, exiting the first round of the Singapore Open and stopping at the round of 16 at the Indonesia Open before the Olympics. The Olympics held high hopes for him, having won bronze in men’s singles at the Tokyo Olympics.
Whilst Popov had also competed in men’s doubles with his brother, finishing with a 1-2 record in Group B and failing to advance, his success in men’s singles seems to be highly popular, with French fans cheering for their home player. Perhaps he can make some moves in this upcoming round of 16 with this support behind his back.
