English umpire Nico Caltabiano says umpiring the Men’s Singles gold medal match at the Paris Olympics was ‘a great honour’ and ‘beyond a dream’.

Nico was one of the two umpires taking charge as second seed Fan Zhendong of China took on Sweden’s Truls Moregard for the ultimate prize in the sport.

“To have been selected to be one of the umpires in the men’s final here in Paris is beyond any dream I could have had before coming to the Olympics,” said Nico.

“It’s a great honour to have been part of that moment in the Olympics. The atmosphere in the arena is something that I will never forget and I don’t think I will ever be able to experience again – the noise, the cheering from the supporters.

“For table tennis in general, it has been a fantastic event and the quality of the match, the two players fully deserved to be where they were, fully deserve to be gold and silver medallists.

“It’s been a great pleasure, a great honour to be in that final and something I will never forget, for sure.”

The final ended in a 4-1 victory for Fan as China continued their domination of the gold medals since the sport was introduced to the Games in 1988, taking their tally to 35 out of a possible 40 – with the two teams events still to come.