PARIS, Aug. 29 (by EUROPA PRESS special correspondent Ramón Chamorro) –
Spanish table tennis did not get off to the best possible start at the Paris Paralympic Games and although it came very close to winning a medal in the doubles category, it ended up seeing all five of its pairings eliminated from the competition, the last of which was as partners of two historic figures like Álvaro Valera and Jordi Morales.
Of the five pairs, the one that was the closest and suffered the most pain was surely the one formed by Iker Sastre and Miguel Ángel Toledo in the MD4 class. World runners-up in Granada in 2022, they knew that by winning their first match they would secure bronze and they were close to it before it slipped away.
The prize at the end went to the Slovaks Jan Riapos and Peter Lovas, who won in five exciting sets by 11-3, 12-10, 11-7, 12-14 and 11-8. The Spaniards recovered from a bad first set and in the fourth they had two match points at 10-8 that they failed to take advantage of. In the final set, the score was tied until 7-6 in favour of Sastre and Toledo, a much-debated point that stopped the match for more than five minutes, and from which the Slovaks recovered to end up winning the duel.
“We had been preparing for these Olympic Games for a long time. We were in a very good position and it’s true that we were given the toughest match we could have had. I feel disappointed with myself, but sport is like that and once you win, once you lose,” said Toledo after the defeat.
The Madrid native recalled that they have been able to win medals in other tournaments “at the expense” of the Slovakian pair. “It’s a shame because we had two match points that we didn’t know how to take advantage of, and that hurts, it’s one of those things that you won’t sleep well for a while,” he said.
For Toledo, there was no more pressure than normal except for the “logic of a match of these characteristics because you already know that you are playing for a medal.” “It is a huge letdown that we will have to overcome as the days and the week go by,” admitted the Spaniard.
“We were so close, we almost touched it, we had match points, we didn’t know how to finish it off and if you don’t finish off a match you pay for it in the end against tough opponents, but that’s sport,” said Iker Sastre.
The Basque player said that they were not “affected” by losing the first set so clearly because they knew that “it was going to be very tough” and that they could “come back”. “We turned it around, we got ahead and we could have closed the match, but it wasn’t possible. In the last points they had a little more action than us and that’s how it was,” he added.
Things did not go well for Jorge Cardona and Ander Cepas, the top favourites in MD18, who were unable to beat the Brazilians Luiz Felipe Manara and Claudio Massad in the round of 16 (9-11, 11-9, 11-9 and 11-6), or for a historic José Manuel Ruiz, who participating in his eighth Games fell together with Alejandro Díaz in MD18 to the powerful Chinese pair Lian Hao-Zhao Shuai by 3-1 (11-9, 11-8, 9-11, 11-2). Francisco Javier López and Eder Rodríguez were unable to beat the Thais Wanchai Chawut and Yuttajak Glinbancheun, the top favourites, in MD8 (11-2, 11-0 and 11-8).
MORALES AND VALERA’S LAST GAME AS A TEAM
The full list of defeats was completed by Álvaro Valera and Jordi Morales, bronze medalists three years ago in Tokyo, in the MD14 class when they lost against the Chileans Ignacio Torres and Matías Pino in three sets (11-5, 15-13, 11-6), in what was their last match as a pair after more than two decades with countless successes.
“It was the last match with my teammate after 25 years and I am grateful for all the successes we have had over the years,” Valera told the media after having to “experience defeat.”
The Sevillian confessed that he had “several very special memories” with Morales, but that “if I had to highlight one it would be that silver medal in London playing against higher categories and beating China who were number one in the quarter-finals in an epic match.”
“Perhaps the best match of our lives, that is a spectacular memory that always comes to mind when we are at a dinner because beating China in our sport is like beating Brazil in football, so it was spectacular. In fact, they fired the Chinese coach after that match,” he added with a smile.
For his part, Jordi Morales admitted that it has been “25 years of great success” and agreed with his teammate in that match in London against China. “It was a spectacular game and today’s match cannot in any way overshadow everything we have experienced over these years, everything we have achieved and the good will always come first,” he said.
Regarding the match, Valera acknowledged that “after the emotional hangover from the ceremony, which was something wonderful, incredible and unforgettable,” they had to start with a “somewhat unfavorable draw” because they were given “the most uncomfortable option.” “We are doing very badly in the way they play and we started with uncomfortable feelings, they have started to play better as the match has progressed and at key moments they have been more comfortable and more accurate,” he commented.
The Catalan admitted that he was “a little sad” to have ended this long journey like this. “They dominated us in this way and played a perfect match. We played against them a few months ago and the same thing happened to us, we were unable to find solutions, so we have nothing left to do but congratulate them,” he said.