In phase “32”, Panagiotis Gionis’s career in men’s singles table tennis at the Paris Olympic tournament was interrupted.
The 44-year-old Greek champion, in his sixth appearance at the Games, fought hard but was defeated 4-2 by American Kanak Tza.
Ultimately, the Greek champion paid for their opponent’s late reaction, who took advantage of their opponent’s slow start to quickly make it 3-0 (11-5, 11-4, 11-7), comfortably winning the first two games.
Now with his back against the wall, Gonis tried to fight back and managed to win the next two games (11-7, 11-8) to reduce the deficit to 3-2.
In the next and decisive game, he was losing to Tza by 9-8, but at that moment the American won the next two points and finished the game at 11-8.