The Japanese Mahiro Funajama is an excellent table tennis player, but he is not invincible, said Montenegrin Paralympian Luka Bakić.
Bakić and Funaja will meet tomorrow, in the afternoon, in the round of 16 match.
It will be the third duel of the year between the eighth and ninth ranked table tennis players in the S10 category.
In the Masters final in Linjan, Bakić won 3:2, while Funayama got his revenge in Costa Brava (3:2).
"The draw is correct, I met with him several times. I know what and how he plays. I want to play to the best of my ability, and we'll see if that will be enough for some big things," Bakić told the MINA agency.
He emphasized that the competition system and the knockout phase from the first match do not give anyone the right to make a mistake.
"The Japanese is a good, young player, but we are all beatable. The competition system leaves no room for error and it is very important to start the tournament focused and in the best possible condition," said Bakić.
The better of the duel between Bakić and Funajama will play on Monday against the finalist from Tokyo, the Frenchman Mateo Bohas or the Russian Ivan Karpov, for a place on the podium.
The bronze medalist from Tokyo, Filip Radović, as the second-placed player in the world ranking, is free in the round of 16.
In the quarter-final match, worthy of a bronze medal, he will face the better of the duel between Spanish Jose Manuel Ruiz Rejes and Chilean Manuel Ečaveguren, the seventh and tenth players on the world list.
In other matches of the round of 16 tomorrow, the Brazilian Claudio Masad will meet the Austrian Christian Gardoš, the Chinese Lian Hao will meet the Nigerian Alabi Alufemi and the Thai Banpot Silapakomg will meet the Polish Igor Mištal.
The Polish Patrik Čojnovski, the official European, world and Olympic champion, secured a direct placement among the top eight, as well as Radović.
The quarter-finals are scheduled for September 2, the semi-final matches are scheduled a day later, while the winner of the gold medal in the S4 category will be announced on September 10.
Bonus video:
