This afternoon, the Olympic table tennis men's singles reached the semi-finals, Androne's opponent was Ochalov from Germany, and the record for the two was 18:0, but Ochalov was confident in these 19 encounters.
Ochalov faced Brazil's Calderano, the no.4 seed, in the quarter-finals, and entered the final with a 2-0 deficit, relying on a changeable serve and a strong attack to win four consecutive sets. He firmly believes that the good momentum will continue into the semi-finals.
Despite losing 18 straight games against Malone, Ocha was optimistic: "I often lose to Malone, but Yoo Seung-min also beat Wang Hao at the Olympics to celebrate his only victory. That gives me hope for tomorrow's game. I've been rehearsing this ball in my head for a long time and I'm sure I'll win. ”
Germany coach Roskov was also unexpectedly confident that Ocha would win: "Dima is approaching Malone. He has reached a state where he can fight against him. After today's win like this (vs Calderano), just when you're on the verge of losing everything (and winning back), a lot of things become possible. The Japanese have already demonstrated this in mixed doubles matches. ”