If Omaha wins Malone, public opinion may really criticize from all angles. Oha has a good reputation in table tennis and a good relationship with the main players of the national team, especially the personal relationship between Oha and Malone. In particular, OCHA is indeed a very powerful and competitive player. Domestic public opinion will certainly tend to be fair and flat, and even more stories will be derived to spread. Perhaps Ocha's defeat of Malone will become another inspirational version. There will be more positive comments on OCHA.
But Malone will undoubtedly be questioned by many people. Although the public opinion of Tokyo Olympic Games no longer only pays attention to athletes' gold medals, it shows a more tolerant attitude towards the gains and losses of gold medals. But in fact, after the Tokyo Olympics, Malone has won the double champion, and many people are still expecting him to retire. If you lose half of the singles Olympics, it can be said that Malone will definitely face unimaginable severe criticism. This kind of doubt will especially come from the audience who have been paying attention to table tennis, or the audience who are generally concerned about sports. Maybe it's the star effect. Many people will deliberately enlarge Malone's question to guess, sing bad songs and keep asking questions. Malone has won many, many games this cycle.
Personally, I still like Ocha very much. If he really wins, I will be happy for him. Just as we all hoped that Li Zongwei would win Dānlín once before, real fans would congratulate Ocha on winning Malone and feel sorry for Malone. Personally, as long as I win fair and square, I feel very good that the post-match press conference will politely and fairly comment on my opponent's competitive level and mental outlook! Just like Sun Yingsha's evaluation of Ito in an interview after the game, she is fair and polite and has the demeanor of our big country. The purpose of competitive competition is not friendship first, competition second.