Jang Woo-jin was knocked out in the quarterfinals of the men’s singles table tennis tournament at the Paris Olympics on Thursday, failing to end South Korea’s long drought in this event.

Jang, world No. 13, lost to sixth-ranked Brazilian Hugo Calderano 4-0 (11-4, 11-7, 11-5, 11-6) at South Paris Arena in Paris.

Jang had also lost to Calderano in the round of 16 at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. He has beaten Calderano just once in six meetings so far.

South Korea has not won a medal in the men’s singles since Ryu Seung-min captured the gold medal in 2004.

Jang had no answer to Calderano’s strong backhand from early on, dropping the first game in just five minutes.

Down 7-4 in the second game, Jang pulled into a tie with three straight points, only to see Calderano win the next four points to win the game and take a 2-0 lead.

Calderano turned a 6-4 lead into an 11-5 win in the third game, as Jang continued to miss with his forehand.

The Brazilian then won the last four points of the deciding game to book a ti
cket to the semifinals.

Source: Yonhap News Agency