During the first round of the men’s team event, Great Britain were defeated by Portugal in 3 straight games with Great Britain only managing to take 2 ends in total.
Paul Drinkall failed to challenge the incredibly consistent Marcos Freitas during the first game despite a good performance from the 22 year old. Freitas used his superb forehand to great affect leaving the Brit with few options.
Liam Pitchford, 19, walked onto the table in the second game of the match seemingly unfazed by the occasion of his first Olympics in front of the home crowd. The first set proves the skill that the 19 year old posses as he noticed a weakness in his opponent’s forehand and exploited it to help him on his way to his 11-9 win.
However the second set saw no such weakness from Monteiro who took the set confidently 11-5. The third set told a similar story to the second with Monterio dominating despite some fantastic rallies and good attempts from Pitchford.
An intense doubles match followed Monterio’s 3-1 win, with Baggaley and Pitchford producing a good performance but not good enough to even take an end of the Portuguese pair who again dominated the game completely.
Well done to Portugal who showed supreme skill and good luck to them in the next round.
Congratulations also go to team GB who gave a good performance in front of a crowd who were defiantly 100% behind them.
The men’s team event continues tomorrow.
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Alice Gregory – TableTennisDaily
