Zeng Jian makes Olympic table tennis last 32

As much as she psyched herself up for her Olympic debut, the significance of the occasion still got to Singapore’s top table tennis player Zeng Jian.

However, when it came to the crunch in front of a capacity 6,650 crowd – which included Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam – at the South Paris Arena 4, the world No. 52 showed her mettle to beat Croatia’s 73rd-ranked Ivana Malobabic 4-3 (11-5, 11-3, 11-13, 11-6, 9-11, 13-15, 11-5) in the women’s singles’ round of 64.

Zeng told The Straits Times: “I tried to prepare myself as best as I could, but I was still super nervous when I stepped out into the Olympic arena with a full crowd. My mind went blank, and I couldn’t play according to plan because my hands and body felt stiff.

“At the start, we were both nervous and trying to find our rhythm, and my opponent’s shot quality improved after the second game which helped her find a way back in the match.

“I really wanted to end the match in the sixth game and while I didn’t accomplish that, I found some breakthroughs which helped me in the decider. In the last game, I felt I had to go for broke because if I remained conservative, I wouldn’t be able to win.”

After beating the 44-year-old chopper, Zeng faces another unorthodox player in India’s top player Sreeja Akula (No. 25), a long-pimple blocker who swept Sweden’s Christina Kallberg 4-0. If the 27-year-old beats Akula, she will likely meet China’s world No. 1 Sun Yingsha in the round of 16.

“She (Akula) is ranked higher, but we are evenly matched and I will give it my all against her. I really want to play more matches on this grand stage,” said the China-born Singaporean.

Who wouldn’t?

At times, the atmosphere was electrifying in a mix of colour and class. As the players competed on four black tables with pink outlines in a sprawling hall decorated with pastel green billboards, the flag-waving fans got behind their favourite athletes by clapping, cheering and stomping their feet on the metal scaffolding floor to create an absolute racket.

Congolese world No. 117 Saheed Idowu was even moved to tears when he received a rousing standing ovation for taking Sweden’s 25th-ranked Anton Kallberg to the wire before losing their men’s singles match.

Unfortunately, there were also no upsets for Singapore teenage debutants Izaac Quek and Zhou Jingyi.

In the men’s singles, Quek put up a good fight to claim two games against Slovenia’s 18th-ranked Darko Jorgic, who eventually won 4-2 (8-11, 11-4, 11-8, 13-11, 3-11, 11-7).

While the world No. 83 was praised as a “talented player who can beat anyone” by the winner, the 18-year-old would rue not being able to convert his three game points in the fourth game.

Quek, who was supported by his parents and sister in the stands, said: “I enjoyed the match because it was very back and forth. I received well and used more reverse pendulum serves to put him under pressure.

“The fourth game was crucial and I didn’t make full use of the opportunity when I was leading 10-7. His overall game is stronger than mine, and I still need to improve on my rally abilities.”

Earlier, women’s singles world No. 113 Zhou also briefly threatened to cause a shock before losing 4-1 (9-11, 11-4, 11-3, 11-7, 11-9) to Romania’s 10th-ranked Bernadette Szocs.

Szocs called the 19-year-old a “fighter”, as the latter took the first game despite nursing a knee injury. However, the 29-year-old’s experience prevailed as she stepped up a gear to complete the comeback victory.

Zhou said: “I focused more on the first three strokes because these usually determine who wins the points.

“I did pretty okay in the first game. Maybe she was nervous and made quite a few unforced errors, but she adjusted and forced me to play top spins when I prefer to play down spins. She became more attacking and I became quite defensive towards the end.

“During the timeout in the last game, my coach told me to play like I have nothing to lose. I tried to attack more, came back from 4-6 down to lead 8-6, but ultimately Bernadette is the stronger player.”