Dima through to the semifinals.
The complete match was played tight with lots of attention to placement of service and returns , but most of all the quarterfinal between the two remaining Europeans Michael MAZE from Denmark and the German shooting star Dimitrij OVTCHAROV was a nerve wracking encounter that kept the 4500 spectators on the edge of their seats for more than one hour.
Finally it was the German twenty- two year old who raised his arms in victory. I am sure that Dima thinks this one was ugly – the way the match played out. He lost his concentration slightly after winning the two first games and never really found his comfort zone after that. Maze had suddenly following a poor start all the chances leading three games to two and in the seventh game he was in command almost all the way leading 8-6 with the ball in his hand.
The two remaining quarterfinals in the Men’s singles will go tomorrow morning featuring two gold medal aspiring Chinese top players in Zhang JIKE and Wang HAO. If these guys were anywhere near watching the two quarters today – their confidence should have risen a few degrees for sure.
