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.
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
Since 2012, Freitas lives in Schwechat and practices at the Werner Schlager Academy.[17]
Honors
European Championships: singles runner-up (2015); men's doubles winner (2011); men's team winner (2014)