'Lot of respect'

Boll reached the last 16 in the men's singles in Tokyo, and won silver in the men's team event with Germany, which lost to China in the final.

Rating his performance at the Games as a seven out of 10 in the singles, and a nine for the team events, Boll said: "I won all the important games before the final. In the team final, it took me one and a half sets to get used to the style of Ma Long. He played fantastically with lots of self-confidence. Every shot was precise.

"The whole German team had a good performance, even though we lost 3-0 in the final. We have to admit that China is the best country. We show a lot of respect for how strong they are."

Boll has collected many of the sport's top honors throughout his career, but Olympic gold has proved elusive.

"Maybe I have felt a little more pressure, especially in tough games when you lose control," said Boll.

"Sometimes I had my chances, but I just didn't take them. My opponents always played better than me. I cannot say I did not give my all."

Ruefully recalling his disappointing campaign at the 2004 Athens Games, Boll said of his quarterfinal defeat to Swedish legend Jan-Ove Waldner: "I beat him three weeks before, but three weeks later in the Olympics I lost to him."

Germany's best hope of denying China men's singles gold in Tokyo lay with Dimitrij Ovtcharov. He ultimately dropped a gripping semifinal 4-3 to Ma Long, and Boll is hopeful his teammate can continue to challenge Chinese dominance in three years' time at the Paris Olympics.

"He is 32, but still many years younger than me and he'll have some more years at the highest level. He believes he can go full power to Paris 2024. For me, I try to keep my level, but it's getting harder and harder," said Boll.

He's not ruling out making a seventh Olympic appearance in the French capital, and says he won't be retiring any time soon.

"I'm the type of guy who thinks not too far away, especially when I'm 40," he said. "I enjoy every day of competing and practicing. I have done this all my life."

Xinhua