Egypt’s Omar Assar was knocked out of the Paris Olympics table tennis quarter-finals by Sweden’s Truls Moregard,losing 4-1.
Despite a strong start, Assar couldn’t overcome Moregard in a closely contested match.
Assar stated in exclusive comments to Al Masry Al Youm, “I tried my best to make the Egyptians happy and I played a strong match against the Swedish champion, but luck was not on my side in two sets and I was closer to taking the lead.”
He added, “There was a decline in my performance in the last set, but I gave my best and I hoped to make the Egyptians happy by achieving an Olympic feat.”
Assar’s journey at the 2024 Paris Olympics began with a victory over Rakotoarimamanana in the round of 64, winning 4-1.
In the round of 16, Assar managed to overturn a two-set deficit against Gerassimenko, winning a thrilling match 4-2, setting up a clash with the 19th-seeded Swede.
He concluded, ‘I achieved fifth place for the second time in the Olympics, which is an unprecedented achievement, and my ambition was to achieve a better result to please the Egyptians.”