Tough openers for Zhou Jingyi, Izaac Quek in Olympic table tennis competitions

SINGAPORE – Singapore’s teenage table tennis players Zhou Jingyi and Izaac Quek face tough openers on their Olympic debut at Paris 2024, after the draw was made on July 24.

World No. 113 Zhou will face 10th-ranked Bernadette Szocs of Romania in the women’s singles round of 64. The winner will meet either Thailand’s Orawan Paranang or Ukraine’s Margaryta Pesotska in the round of 32.

Szocs, 29, had beaten the 19-year-old Zhou 11-7, 11-6, 11-8 in their only previous encounter during the World Team Table Tennis Championships in February 2024.

World No. 83 Izaac, meanwhile, will meet Slovenia’s world no. 18 Darko Jorgic in the men’s singles round of 64. Jorgic, 25, the 13th seed, had previously reached the quarter-finals in Tokyo 2020.

Having previously lost to Jorgic twice, Izaac said he is hoping to play his best and have a different outcome this time.

“I feel that it doesn’t matter much who I play, I think at this level, in such a big tournament, everyone is strong so it’s just important for me to prepare myself,” the 18-year-old added.

“My goal and strategy for the match this week is to mainly focus on my strategies and being able to carry them out on court. Also, I hope to not let my nerves get to me and just enjoy every moment on court.”

Singapore’s other table tennis representative, Zeng Jian, 27, received a relatively easier draw.

The world No. 52, also making her Olympic bow, will open her campaign against Croatia’s 73rd-ranked Ivana Malobabic, who will be making her Games debut at the age of 44.

Zeng said: “I will still prepare well on my own, I believe my opponent will give it her all during the match, so I will prepare to be more energetic and train hard.”

The winner could face India’s rising star and world no. 24 Sreeja Akula in the round of 32.

Singapore women’s coach Jing Junhong said she would not call Zeng’s draw a good one, but added that “it’s not bad either”.

She said: “The match will require a lot of energy. Zeng has beaten her (Malobabic) two years ago, so there’s a 50-50 chance she will play every ball to her best.”

On Zhou’s draw, Jing said: “In the Olympics, Jingyi’s ranking is lower so being able to enter the list of the 64 strongest table tennis players is super lucky.

“Now, she will meet the best player in Romania, so for her, as long as she is able to show her skills, there isn’t a need to think about the results. Just win point by point, game by game.”

China’s Chen Meng, 30, begins her women’s singles title defence against 154th-ranked Lynda Loghraibi from Algeria.

Her compatriot, men’s singles world no. 1 Wang Chuqin, will play 69th-ranked Wang Yang from Slovakia. Fan Zhendong, who is China’s other representative in the men’s singles, faces world No. 184 Yaroslav Zhmudenko from Ukraine, with defending champion Ma Long playing only in the team event.

The draw was done according to the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) statutes, and with 67 athletes each competing in the men’s and women’s singles, procedures for there being more than 64 competitors were followed.

The top 32 seeds, including China’s Wang, were directly drawn into the single-elimination round of 64. Seeds 33 to 48 were then drawn into the remaining positions.

As Izaac and Zeng were the 47th and 31st seeds respectively, they were drawn directly into the knockout rounds.

The next 16 seeds were then drawn into the top-place brackets of the preliminary round, which precedes the round of 64. The remaining players, seeds 65 to 67, were then drawn into the bottom places.

This meant that 13 players who did not have a bottom-place opponent directly advanced to the round of 64. The six remaining players will then play in the preliminary round, with the three winners advancing.

Zhou, who was the 54th seed, managed to escape the preliminary rounds, which will instead see the likes of Chile’s Zeng Zhiying and Cameroonian Sarah Hanffou.

The preliminary rounds will start on July 27, 9pm (Singapore time) in South Paris Arena 4, within the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles complex. The round of 64 will begin on July 28, 2am.