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Marcos Freitas

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Marcos Freitas
Freitas in 2016
Personal information
Full nameMarcos André Sousa da Silva Freitas
Nickname(s)The Freight Train
Born (1988-04-08) 8 April 1988 (age 36)
Madeira, Portugal[1]
Height1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)[2]
Weight74 kg (163 lb)[2]
Table tennis career
Playing styleOffensive, middle distance[2]
Highest ranking7 (November 2015)
Current ranking19 (20 February 2024)[3]
Medal record
Men's table tennis
Representing  Portugal
European Games
Gold medal – first place 2015 Baku Team
Silver medal – second place 2023 Kraków–Małopolska Singles
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Minsk Team
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 2011 Gdansk-Sopot Doubles
Gold medal – first place 2014 Lisbon Team
Silver medal – second place 2015 Ekaterinburg Singles
Silver medal – second place 2017 Luxembourg Team
Silver medal – second place 2019 Nantes Team
Bronze medal – third place 2008 Saint-Petersburg Doubles
Bronze medal – third place 2011 Gdansk-Sopot Team
Bronze medal – third place 2020 Warsaw Singles
Bronze medal – third place 2023 Malmö Team
Europe Top-16
Gold medal – first place 2014 Lausanne Singles
Silver medal – second place 2015 Baku Singles
Silver medal – second place 2021 Thessaloniki Singles
Bronze medal – third place 2024 Montreux Singles

Marcos André Sousa da Silva Freitas (born 8 April 1988) is a Portuguese table tennis player who won European Championships medals in singles, doubles, and team events.[2][1] He represented Portugal four times at the Summer Olympics.

Career

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Freitas participated at the 2008 Summer Olympics where he got knocked out in the round of 64. In the same year he won the bronze medal in the men's doubles at the European Championship with Tiago Apolónia. Three years later at the 2011 European Championships, he went on to win the gold medal with his doubles partner Andrej Gaćina. He took part on his second Olympics in 2012, reaching the round of 32 in the men's singles and the quarterfinals in the team event with Tiago Apolónia and João Monteiro.[4]

In 2014, Freitas won the Europe Cup title by defeating Michael Maze in the final.[5] He continued to win another title at the ITTF World Tour Czech Open in a seven-game final against Patrick Baum.[6] He also helped the Portuguese men's team win its first European title at the 2014 European Championships, breaking Germany's six-edition winning streak since 2007.[7][8]

Freitas competed at the inaugural European Games in 2015. He again helped the Portuguese team earn a gold medal in men's team event with João Geraldo and Tiago Apolonia. He won silver in the singles event at the 2015 European Championships in October, and reached his career-high No. 7 spot on the ITTF world ranking in November 2015.[9][10] As a three-time Olympian, Freitas reached the quarterfinals of the 2016 Olympics in the singles event.[11] Although he won his match in the team event, Portugal lost in the first round of the competition.[12]

After the 2016 Summer Olympics, Freitas and his compatriots continued to make podium appearances at the European Championships and the European Games.[13] In 2021, he advanced to the final of the Europe Top-16 for the third time and participated at the Summer Olympics in both men's singles and men's team competition.[14][1]

In 2023, He won silver medal in men's singles event at the European Games after losing to Felix Lebrun in the seventh game of the final.[15] He won WTT Contender title at Lima after defeating Kao Cheng Jui from Taipai in 4-1 set score and winning the WTT title for the very first time. [16]

Personal life

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Since 2012, Freitas lives in Schwechat and practices at the Werner Schlager Academy.[17]

Honors

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "Marcos Freitas". olympedia.org. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d "Marcos Freitas Biography". International Table Tennis Federation. Archived from the original on 4 January 2014. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  3. ^ "ITTF Table Tennis World Ranking". ittf.com. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  4. ^ "Marcos Freitas Results History". International Table Tennis Federation. Archived from the original on 22 March 2014. Retrieved 22 April 2012.
  5. ^ "Freitas and Liu ensure ITTF World Cup spots with wins in DHS Europe Cup". insidethegames.biz. 9 February 2014. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  6. ^ "Living Life on the Knife Edge Yet Again, Marcos Freitas Wins in Olomouc". ittf.com. 31 August 2014. Archived from the original on 12 August 2016. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  7. ^ "Hosts Portugal shock top seeds Germany to win men's European Team Table Tennis Championship". insidethegames.biz. 28 September 2014. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  8. ^ "Portugal are Europe's new table tennis champions". portugalresident.com. 3 October 2014. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  9. ^ "Ovtcharov defends men's singles title at ITTF European Championships". insidethegames.biz. 4 October 2015. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  10. ^ "ITTF World Ranking Progression". ittf.com. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  11. ^ "Results - Mens Singles - Table Tennis - Rio 2016 - Olympics". BBC Sport. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
  12. ^ "Results - Mens Team - Table Tennis - Rio 2016 - Olympics". BBC Sport. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
  13. ^ "Portugal in men's European Table Tennis semi-finals". ineews.eu. 7 September 2019. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  14. ^ "Patrick Franziska and Nina Mittelham win in Thessaloniki". ittf.com. 19 September 2021. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  15. ^ "Title for Felix LEBRUN in Krakow". ettu.org. 27 June 2023. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  16. ^ "It's finally Marcos Freitas time!". TTCrunch. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
  17. ^ "TWO SCHWECHAT-BASED WON EC-GOLD". wsa-tt.com. 29 September 2014. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
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