London 2012: Germany Won Olympic Men's Teams Bronze

The 2012 London Olympics has reached its end today with the concluding matters in the Men Team event. Unsuccessful to reach the finals, Germany and Hong Kong will just have to fight for the Olympic bronze. 

German superstar Timo Boll was the first player in the battle and faced Leung Chu Yan of Hong Kong. Probably after winning against the Olympic champion Zhang Jike in the previous round, Timo Boll gained so much momentum and carried with him the confidence today. He was in complete control over the table. Leung Chu Yan tried to catch up from a 3-7 deficit to a 6-9 disadvantage but it was the German who got the opening set. 

Eventually it the tone of the first game. Leung Chu Yan can't handle the momentum of his opponent as Timo Boll was clearly the dominant figure. Timo Boll scored 11-6, 11-3, 11-7, leading Germany to 1-0. 

The second match was between the Olympic bronze medalist Dimitrij Ocvtcharov and the Hong Kong veteran Tang Peng. The opening game was rather close. Tang Peng was the first to reach set point in 10-8. However, Ovtcharov managed to recover and caught up in 10-10. After the tie, Tang Peng lost his advantage as his opponent converted his recovery to a solid point. 

The match continued tight with both players not giving much opportunities to each other. Once again, Tang and Ovtcharov leveled in 10-10. This time, Tang Peng got a set written on his name and leveled in 1-1. 

Tang Peng became the hope of Hong Kong after he came close in sealing the subsequent sets. However, the German player was consistent. After four sets, Ovtcharov secured the second point for Germany in 13-11, 11-13,  11-9, 11-9. 

Dimitrij Ovtcharov returned into the arena and partnered with Bastian Steger for the Doubles. They fought Jiang Tianyi and Leung Chu Yan. This is actually the first time in London here Ovtcharov played for the Doubles. They probably want to surprise their opponent but it was the other way around. 

The German duo was threatened. Jiang Tianyi and Leung Chu Yan successfully broke the momentum of their opponent with a powerful 12-10, 11-8, 11-4. 

Eventually, Hong Kong hopes for the Olympic medal were kept alive. However, this was just the start for the team. Hong Kong still has to endure a full stretch battle to achieve victory and Jiang Tianyi had the task of prolonging their exposure. 

Against the German main player Timo Boll, Jiang Tianyi was off with a good start. He took the opening game. However, that did not set the tone of the match as Timo Boll came back into the arena and played better. 

Jiang Tianyi actually gave his opponent a hard time but Timo Boll finished the match with 9-11, 11-5, 11-9, 11-9. 

Hong Kong surprised the Japanese Team in the quarterfinals. However, today, they were not able to repeat such performance. After defeat against China in the semifinals, Germany successfully secured the Olympic Men Team bronze.  

Photo source: sports.sohu.com