PARIS, France — One U.S. men's table tennis player has set new heights for Team USA.
Kanak Jha defeated Panagiotis Gionis of Greece in the round of 32 to advance in the men's table tennis singles bracket. He beat Gionis 4-2. Jha is the first men's U.S. player to reach the round of 16.
In the round of 16 match, Jha faced No. 2 seeded Fan Zhendong of China and lost 4-0, ending his historic run.
Jha reached the round of 32 after an upset win over South Korea’s Cho Daeseong on Sunday. Jha beat Daesong 4-2.
Daesong was the 15th seed in the tournament. Jha is the 59th seed and had to win in the preliminary round to reach the round of 64.
Jha and Daesong split the first two games in the match before Jha won three straight with scores of 11-8, 11-2, and 11-2. He closed the upset with a 12-10 win in game seven.
Jha was the first U.S. men's singles table tennis player to reach the round of 32 in the Summer Olympics since Jim Butler did so in the 1992 Barcelona Games. His advancement in the bracket to the round of 16 takes him where no other men's table tennis player has been in Olympic competition.
This is the third Olympics that Jha is competing in. He is a three-time medal winner at the Pan American Games and has won the U.S. National Championship five times.
On the women's singles side, Lily Zhang reached the round of 16 after defeating Brazil's Bruna Takahashi 4-2. Zhang lost her round of 16 match on Wednesday against South Korea's Yubin Shin 4-0.
Team USA reached the round of 16 in the 2020 Summer Olympics with Juan Liu. The farthest Team USA has reached in the women's singles tournament was the quarterfinals in the 2008 Beijing Olympics with Wang Chen.
