Lianne Tan’s Olympic adventure in Paris is now also completely over. After the defeat against the vice-Olympic champion, she also lost her second match this morning against former world champion Intanon Ratchanok.
While Lianne Tan put up a brave fight in her first match against the world number 3, today she failed to make a fist against the Thai Intanon Ratchanok, the world number 21.
In game 1 Tan certainly held her own at the first points, but after a while the Thai ex-world champion really got going. 21-8 was the telling balance for the first game.
The second game also made it immediately clear who was the strongest. Tan was outplayed by the 29-year-old Thai, who after a few minutes already extended her lead to 9-1. Tan showed her class in bursts with some nice points, but the Belgian could never threaten her opponent. The second game also ended at 21-8.
Another 2-0 loss for Tan. She has to leave Paris without a game in her favor. Her fourth Olympic Games were probably also her last.
Last Games?
“It was very difficult, I just couldn’t score,” our emotional compatriot said afterwards. “My opponent also played very consistently. Defensively she was strong and offensively she scored easily. Today she was simply better than me.”
It was Tan’s fourth Olympic Games, having previously competed in London in 2012 (17th place), Rio de Janeiro in 2016 (14th place) and Tokyo in 2021 (15th place).
“Everyone has dreams and they are different for everyone,” Tan explained. “It is difficult to compare, but I am proud of myself, even though I could not win a set here.”
I come from far away and I achieved this on my own.
Lianne Tan
“I come from far away and I achieved this on my own. They were always great challenges. These are my fourth Games and in between I obtained a diploma,” said Tan, who combines top-level sport with her job as a dentist.
At 33, Tan has not yet made plans for the future.
“Honestly: I haven’t thought about that yet. That’s a personal choice and I’ll make it at my own pace. I certainly don’t want things to be imposed on me. It’s easy for the outside world to say: ‘she’s old and she doesn’t perform anymore’. But I’ll see how well I still feel and make a choice based on that.”
stand groep E
M
W
V
sets
1.
Tai Tzu Ying (Tai)
1
1
0
2-0
2.
Ratchanok Intanon (Tha)
1
1
0
2-0
3.
Lianne Tan
2
0
2
0-4
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