Russian Alexey Liventsov couldn't be happier as he became the first one in seven and a half years who shut the door off Olympic champion Ma Lin's face in the very first round of an ITTF ProTour event, beating the Chinese veteran in full sets at China Open in Suzhou on Friday.

The last time that Ma Lin lost a first round ProTour match was in Guangzhou at the 2003 ITTF ProTour Finals in January 2004, when the former world No. 1 was defeated by Swede Jens Lundqvist.

"I'm very happy. It's amazing. I can't believe this. I'm No.1 happy guy in the world," said the excited Liventsov at the mixed zone after the match.

The 120th-ranked Liventsov, who started to play table tennis at 7 but had never seen such a success as to beat a reigning Olympic champion, gave up a 3-1 set lead before being forced into the decisive set, during which he led 5-0, 9-2 before winning it 11-7.

It took Liventsov nearly an hour wrap up the match against the four-time World Cup winner Ma Lin, 11-5, 11-2, 7-11, 11-9, 3-11, 9-11, 11-7.

"I don't feel Ma is in his best form. He might not be ready," said the 29-year-old Russian.

When asked about his plan, the tall guy with a baby face said he was trying to do his best although he only had a slim chance to play in the 2012 Olympics in London.

"To be honest, I might be the No. 6 or 7 in the national championships," he said. "I don't know what I can do. But today is very good."

Liventsov is right about one thing that Ma Lin is definitely not at his best form. In fact, the 31-year-old penholder is not at his normal level with a right wrist injury which had bothered him for the latest several playoffs at the Chinese Table Tennis Super League.

"I'm a little bit slow into the game," said the world No. 3, who just put an end to his title drought two months ago in an international event in Shenzhen. "With an injured right wrist, I was limited to play backhand stroke."

He admitted that he wasn't well prepared and the opponent played a very good aggressive game.

Friday's exit made Ma the very first key player in the Chinese national team to have lost a first round match and to a no-better-than-100th-ranked rival since the Beijing Olympic Games.

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