by Nash Alonto
Feb. 23, 2023
Team Quebec won yet another gold medal in the men’s team table tennis finals during the 2023 Canada Winter Games yesterday at the P.E.I. Convention Centre in Charlottetown.
Joakim Desmeules and Siméon Martin defeated Ontario’s Kevin Guo and Jordan Grewal three matches to one after they won three consecutive singles matches, despite losing the doubles match.
Desmeules, who won the third singles match that sealed Quebec’s victory, said he was relieved they won the final play.
“I was trying to stay in the present moment. It was hard because I knew how big the outcome was,” he said.
A “team event” is when a doubles match and four singles matches are played in a consecutive sequence, with each match typically being a “best-of-five” series. The first team to win three matches wins.
The third singles match between Desmeules and Grewal was the deciding factor in the entire match, as Desmeules dominated each of the first three sets. Grewal tried to gain more points to hold on to Ontario’s gold medal hopes.
In the third and final set, both players gained each point with every rally, with a 2-2 tie at one point.
At the match point, after Grewal made a serve, Desmeules suddenly missed the ball while swinging his racket. However, Desmeules composed himself to focus on the final play, in which Grewal overshot his rally, leading to an out that sealed Quebec’s victory in the final game.
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