MADRID, Jan. 23 (SportsFinding) –
The Spanish men's table tennis team has not won the ticket for the Tokyo Olympics after losing to Sweden in the World Pre-Olympic semifinals being held in the Portuguese town of Gondomar.
Spain, which is fighting for this place with the women's team, did not suffer the same fate with the men's team. The coach Victor Sánchez opted for Álvaro Robles and Carlos Machado as a pair of doubles. The Spanish pair became strong on the table to stand up to the Swedish team, bronze in the last World Cup, but the story was complicated later.
Robles-Machado twice matched the score (1-1 and 2-2), where the four sets reflected the high level of both couples. However, the fifth set fell on the Swedish side, despite the good work of the Spanish. With 0-1, Jesús Cantero went out to exhibit his best table tennis.
The Cadiz gave the first quarter 11-5, and struggled to turn the scoreboard with two consecutive sets against Europe number 1, Mattias Falck. Cantero won 11-8 and 11-7 the next two sets, placing a sleeve to win the Swede. The Spanish came to dominate the fourth round and was ahead with 7-6, but Falck won four consecutive points to take the initiative. He matched the game and dominated the last quarter, which won 11-5.
With the match so even, Álvaro Robles and Jon Persson jumped to play the third point. Equality was maintained at the start of the duel, where Robles had the first set advantages, but gave 14-16. The Spaniard maintained his concentration to recover the lost advantage, although Persson was very confident and won the victory by giving Sweden a 0-3 unreal victory.
With this result, the Spanish men's team is eliminated from the World Team Pre-Olympic and remains out of the men's team test in the Olympic Games. Spanish athletes will have to look for their Olympic place in the next Individual Pre-Olympic Games in Moscow and Doha.