UPDATE 1-Olympics-Table Tennis-Injured Boll helps Germany clinch bronze

By Brenda Goh
Reuters

(Updates with athlete quotes)

RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug 17 (Reuters) - South Korea ended their Rio adventure without a men's team medal for the first time in eight years after they were defeated by Germany in the bronze medal match on Wednesday.

Playing through a neck injury that forced him to take a time out during the doubles match, Germany's Timo Boll clinched the deciding fourth singles match against South Korea's Joo Sae-hyuk, sealing a 3-1 victory.

Boll told Reuters that he had to have painkilling injections during the timeout after dislocating a bone in his neck while making a quick shot during the doubles match -- something that had happened to him "four or five times" in the last few months.

"In the beginning I thought it was over because I had quite strong pain. Especially against defense, you have to give a lot of effort and you have to play all the top spins," he said.

"I was very calm and focused. This was very important -- just try to win it somehow -- and in the end I was really in the game again. I was able to just think about the game and not the injury."

Germany and South Korea took the silver and bronze medal respectively in 2008 and switched podium spots four years later in London.

"He was very persistent when he played against me and I think I didn't defend myself well enough," said Joo, who failed to win a single game against Boll in the fourth match.

Defending champion China, who have swept three out of the four gold medals available in the tournament so far, will play final against Japan later on Wednesday. (Reporting by Brenda Goh; Editing by Alison Williams, Neville Dalton)

08/17/2016 15:07