Truls Molegaard won a big victory over Wang Chuqing to advance to the Olympic men's singles table tennis quarterfinals. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
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Sweden's Truls Måregård pulled off an upset at the 2024 Paris Olympics by defeating the world's No. 1 ranked table tennis player, China's Wang Chuqin, in the men's singles on Wednesday.
Måregård, ranked 26th in the world, advanced to the quarterfinals after beating Wang, who had already won the gold medal in the mixed doubles, 4-2.
Mållegaard won the first two games, then Wang won the next two to tie the match, and in the deciding game, Wang came back from 8-4 down to tie the score at 8-8, but Mållegaard ultimately won 11-9.
“I've hardly ever won a set against Wang, so it's amazing to win here,” Mollegård said after the match. “I think the way I played it tactically was really clever and I didn't think he was at his best from the start.”
Mollegård will next face Kao Cheng Jui of Chinese Taipei on Wednesday afternoon.
Some may have thought Wang's play was affected by using a spare paddle after his main one was damaged by a photographer rushing to take photos after his mixed doubles win on Tuesday, but the 24-year-old seven-time world champion made no excuses for his defeat.
“I definitely felt bad yesterday, but that's not the reason why I lost,” said Wang, who will play for China in the team event on Aug. 6. “I made a lot of mistakes today, and that really led to my failure.”
Wang's loss means China will fail to win both gold and silver medals in the men's singles for the first time since Athens 2004. Fan Zhendong, who won silver at the 2020 Tokyo Games, still has a shot at winning China's 33rd table tennis gold medal.
