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Ma Long won 2 gold medals and secured a career grand slam so it's easy to see Rio 2016 as THE MA LONG tournament.
But I disagree. I think Jun Mizutani was the real star. In the singles event Mizutani reaches the semi-final where he faced the aforementioned Ma Long. What. A. Match. Ma goes 3-0 up only for Mizutani to fight back to 3-2. He eventually goes down 4-2 in a classic. Mizutani goes on to beat Samsonov in the 3rd/4th player to secure Japan their first men's singles medal in a long time.
Then the team event. Japan comes up against old rivals Germany in the semi-final. Germany have edged the Japanese out in their past few encounters. But not today. Mizutani beats Timo Boll and Bastian Steger 3-0 to guarantee Japan a silver medal. In the final Mizutani goes into insane mode and takes down Xu Xin after being 10-7 down in the fifth.
So to recap:
1 bronze medal.
1 silver medal.
Beats Timo Boll, Xu Xin, Vladimir Samosonov
Loses to Ma Long
Wow.
But I disagree. I think Jun Mizutani was the real star. In the singles event Mizutani reaches the semi-final where he faced the aforementioned Ma Long. What. A. Match. Ma goes 3-0 up only for Mizutani to fight back to 3-2. He eventually goes down 4-2 in a classic. Mizutani goes on to beat Samsonov in the 3rd/4th player to secure Japan their first men's singles medal in a long time.
Then the team event. Japan comes up against old rivals Germany in the semi-final. Germany have edged the Japanese out in their past few encounters. But not today. Mizutani beats Timo Boll and Bastian Steger 3-0 to guarantee Japan a silver medal. In the final Mizutani goes into insane mode and takes down Xu Xin after being 10-7 down in the fifth.
So to recap:
1 bronze medal.
1 silver medal.
Beats Timo Boll, Xu Xin, Vladimir Samosonov
Loses to Ma Long
Wow.