| | Event type

Singles, Men

Date	25 July – 1 August 1996
Status	Olympic
Location	Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, Georgia (Hall D)
Participants	64 from 39 countries
Format	Round-robin qualifying pools, followed by single-elimination tournament.

The favorite was 1995 World Champion, Kong Linghui, known as King Kong. He had been sent to Europe in the early 1990s to learn from the top European players who were dominating men’s singles play. But he was defeated in the round of 16 by Korea’s Kim Taek-Soo. The final still came down to two Chinese players – Liu Guoliang, who had been runner-up at the 1995 Worlds, and Wang Tao. The final was close for four games, which they split, but Liu overwhelmed Wang in the final game, 21-6. Liu would later win the 1999 World Championships. The defending champion, Jan-Ove Waldner, had his worst ever performance at a major event, losing early to Canadian Wenguang “Johnny” Huang. The surprise of the tournament was Petr Korbel (CZE), who eliminated both Jean-Philippe Gatien and Jean-Michel Saive , before finishing fourth.

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC
1	Liu Guoliang	CHN	Gold
2	Wang Tao	CHN	Silver
3	Jörg Roßkopf	GER	Bronze
4	Petr Korbel	CZE
=5	Kim Taek-Su	KOR
=5	Johnny Huang	CAN
=5	Jean-Michel Saive	BEL
=5	Uladzimir Samsonau	BLR
=9	Kong Linghui	CHN
=9	Patrick Chila	FRA
=9	Koji Matsushita	JPN
=9	Jan-Ove Waldner	SWE
=9	Zoran Primorac	CRO
=9	Hugo Hoyama	BRA
=9	Dmitry Mazunov	RUS
=9	Yu Nam-Gyu	KOR
=17	Chiang Peng-Lung	TPE
=17	Andrey Mazunov	RUS
=17	Andrzej Grubba	POL
=17	Xinhua Chen	GBR
=17	Daniel Tsiokas	GRE
=17	Hiroshi Shibutani	JPN
=17	Jean-Philippe Gatien	FRA
=17	Jörgen Persson	SWE
=17	Kallinikos Kreangka	GRE
=17	Károly Németh	HUN
=17	Lee Cheol-Seung	KOR
=17	Li Gun-Sang	PRK
=17	Peter Franz	GER
=17	Peter Karlsson	SWE
=17	Slobodan Grujić	SCG
=17	Werner Schlager	AUT
=33	Toshio Tasaki	JPN
=33	Aleksandar Karakašević	SCG
=33	Anton Suseno	INA
=33	Carl Prean	GBR
=33	Choi Kyong-Sob	PRK
=33	Danny Heister	NED
=33	David Zhuang	USA
=33	Ding Yi	AUT
=33	Ilija Lupulesku	SCG
=33	Jim Butler	USA
=33	Kim Song-Hui	PRK
=33	Lo Chuen Tsung	HKG
=33	Philippe Saive	BEL
=33	Segun Toriola	NGR
=33	Vasile Florea	ROU
=33	Zoltán Bátorfi	HUN
=49	Ahmed Mohamed Osama	SUD
=49	Augusto Morales	CHI
=49	Chetan Baboor	IND
=49	Dexter St. Louis	TTO
=49	Dukhail Al-Habashi	KUW
=49	Joe Ng	CAN
=49	Guillermo Muñoz	MEX
=49	Hamad Al-Hammadi	QAT
=49	Isaac Opoku	GHA
=49	Mark Smythe	AUS
=49	Michael Hyatt	JAM
=49	Paul Langley	AUS
=49	Paul Mutambuze	UGA
=49	Stephen Hylton	JAM
=49	Sule Olaleye	NGR
=49	Tarik Hodžić	BIH

Final Round (1 August 1996)

Match 1/2	Liu Guoliang	CHN	3 – 2 21-12, 22-24, 21-19, 15-21, 21-6	Wang Tao	CHN
Match 3/4	Jörg Roßkopf	GER	3 – 1 21-17, 19-21, 21-18, 21-19	Petr Korbel	CZE

Semi-Finals (31 July 1996)

Winner of each match advanced to next round.

Match #1	Liu Guoliang	CHN	3 – 1 21-17, 18-21, 21-18, 21-18	Jörg Roßkopf	GER
Match #2	Wang Tao	CHN	3 – 0 23-21, 21-7, 21-16	Petr Korbel	CZE

Quarter-Finals (30 July 1996)

Winner of each match advanced to next round.

Match #1	Jörg Roßkopf	GER	3 – 2 12-21, 26-24, 21-12, 16-21, 26-24	Kim Taek-Su	KOR
Match #2	Liu Guoliang	CHN	3 – 1 9-21, 21-19, 21-16, 21-16	Johnny Huang	CAN
Match #3	Petr Korbel	CZE	3 – 0 21-10, 21-13, 21-19	Jean-Michel Saive	BEL
Match #4	Wang Tao	CHN	3 – 2 16-21, 16-21, 21-10, 21-15, 21-15	Uladzimir Samsonau	BLR

Round One (28 July 1996)

Winner of each match advanced to next round.

Match #1	Kim Taek-Su	KOR	3 – 1 21-17, 21-18, 20-22, 21-12	Kong Linghui	CHN
Match #2	Jörg Roßkopf	GER	3 – 0 21-16, 21-16, 23-21	Patrick Chila	FRA
Match #3	Liu Guoliang	CHN	3 – 0 21-18, 21-10, 21-17	Koji Matsushita	JPN
Match #4	Johnny Huang	CAN	3 – 1 21-15, 17-21, 21-16, 21-15	Jan-Ove Waldner	SWE
Match #5	Jean-Michel Saive	BEL	3 – 0 21-13, 21-16, 21-8	Zoran Primorac	CRO
Match #6	Petr Korbel	CZE	3 – 2 17-21, 19-21, 21-17, 21-14, 21-13	Hugo Hoyama	BRA
Match #7	Uladzimir Samsonau	BLR	3 – 0 21-14, 21-15, 21-13	Dmitry Mazunov	RUS
Match #8	Wang Tao	CHN	3 – 0 21-15, 21-16, 21-9	Yu Nam-Gyu	KOR