Olympic table tennis

Quarter-finals: Polcanova against Meng, LIVE from 10 a.m.

Sofia Polcanova fails in the quarter-finals.(Bild: AFP/APA/WANG Zhao)

As expected, Sofia Polcanova failed in the quarter-finals of the Olympic table tennis singles. Defending champion Chen Meng was a size too big. "Sonja" lost 0:4 (-5, -3,-0,-8) in 30 minutes, but can be proud of a great tournament and a strong fifth place. "I'm not today, but I am with this tournament in general," smiled Polcanova.

Polcanova had already beaten two top 10 players this year, with Bernadette Szöcs adding a third in the round of 16 in Paris. But the elite Chinese women are a different kettle of fish, especially at the Olympics, where only the top two are allowed to play in the singles.

"Sonja" had not won a set against Chen Meng in three previous duels, including in Tokyo in 2021. The biggest problem she has with the top Chinese players was evident right from the start yesterday. They live above all from their speed and athleticism, and in this respect Polcanova, who is 1.80 meters tall for a table tennis player, unfortunately cannot keep up. Chen Meng exploited this mercilessly.

Chen scored mercilessly, especially with her backhand, and Sonja was always too late on the ball at some point during longer rallies. The spectators tried to cheer Polcanova on with loud shouts of "Sonja". They also wanted a sensation. It didn't help. 11:5 after just six minutes, set two didn't last any longer.

Maximum punishment in the third set
In the third set, the maximum penalty was a 0:11. Polcanova looked visibly desperate. Her coach, Jie Zhang, tried to cheer her up again. All the non-Chinese spectators in the hall chanted "Sonja". That cheered her up for a short time. She played freely again, Chen wobbled briefly, but won 11:8 and thus 4:0.

Polcanova had already beaten Bernadette Szöcs, a top 10 player, before that.(Bild: GEPA)

"The 0:11 hurt," admitted Polcanova afterwards. "But I'm proud that I fought well again." Secretly, however, the 29-year-old had expected more, Chinese player or not. "I wasn't satisfied with the quarter-final, I wanted more. But she played even better than usual today. When you play against a Chinese player, you have to be on top form, give 120 percent and have full focus, unfortunately not all the points were right today."

But no end to her career
Nevertheless, fifth place at the Olympics is another highlight for "Sonja" in a sensational two years, including two European Championship gold medals and victories over top players. "I was in a really bad way some time ago, I had already decided to stop after the home European Championships (in Linz in October, please note)," said Polcanova. But now she is enjoying table tennis again and wants to carry on. At club level, however, she will sit out for a season. "The traveling was too much for me, I want to take it easy now."