For the singles, each nation was allowed to register two athletes from the respective team competition. An additional 22 qualified through continental qualifying tournaments. There was also the possibility of qualifying in an international qualification tournament. Also, the best placed athlete in the ITTF world rankings who had not yet qualified received a quota place.
Like in Rio, the first rounds were limited to the lower ranked players. Higher ranked players were gradually introduced until the third round when the world’s 16 best ranked players joined the tournament. This scheme had already been applied in previous Olympics. All matches were played to the best-of seven, with the first to win four games taking the match.
China occupied the top three spots in the world ranking list but could only nominate two players who turned out to be top seed Fan Zhendong and third seed Ma Long. Ma Long had taken two team golds previously, and in Rio also won singles gold. Additionally, he won three singles and two doubles titles at World Championships. In 2010, he topped the world ranking list for the first time. Nearly nine years younger than Long, Fan Zhendong had never won the world singles title, but was once the doubles and three times the world team champion. Both Chinese players had to fight hard in their semi-finals going through seven games taking more than 80 minutes. Former world No. 1 Dimitrij Ovtcharov, the same age as Ma Long, never managed to beat the Chinese in 19 matches throughout their careers and maybe he never came closer to winning than in Tokyo before eventually losing the deciding last game by 11-9. In the second semi-final, the tournament fifth seed Lin Yun-Ju from Chinese Taipei was equally close to outplaying Fan Zhendong. In the final Ma Long had less difficulty to beat his compatriot 4-2. Ovtcharov of Germany, something like a specialist for long matches, trailed Lin Yun-Ju in the bronze medal match 3-2 but came back in a grueling sixth game saving four match points and eventually took bronze by winning the deciding seventh game. Like the final, the veteran, 32-years-old Ovtcharov, prevailed against one of the sport’s next generation, 19-years-old Lin.
| Match | Date/Time | Location | Competitor (Seed) | NOC | Result | Competitor (Seed) | NOC | |
|---|
| Match #1 | 24 Jul 14:15 | Table 3 | Andrej Gaćina |  CRO | 11-5, 11-6, 11-3, 13-11 | Dodji Fanny |  TOG | |
| Match #2 | 24 Jul 14:15 | Table 2 | Clarence Chew |  SGP | 11-4, 4-11, 11-3, 13-11, 3-11, 12-10 | Ibrahima Diaw |  SEN | |
| Match #3 | 24 Jul 15:00 | Table 1 | Panagiotis Gkionis |  GRE | 11-6, 11-8, 11-9, 11-8 | Žolt Peto |  SRB | |
| Match #4 | 24 Jul 15:00 | Table 4 | Lubomír Jančařík |  CZE | 11-9, 11-5, 11-4, 11-4 | Ali Al-Khadrawi |  KSA | |
| Match #5 | 24 Jul 21:00 | Table 1 | Nikhil Kumar |  USA | 8-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-7, 11-13, 11-6 | Alberto Miño |  ECU | |
| Match #6 | 24 Jul 15:45 | Table 4 | Ovidiu Ionescu |  ROU | 11-7, 13-11, 7-11, 11-8, 11-6 | Chris Yan |  AUS | |
| Match #7 | 24 Jul 20:15 | Table 1 | Álvaro Robles |  ESP | 8-11, 11-4, 14-12, 11-2, 11-7 | Gastón Alto |  ARG | |
| Match #8 | 24 Jul 16:30 | Table 1 | Lam Siu Hang |  HKG | 7-11, 11-9, 6-11, 11-6, 11-4, 12-14, 11-8 | Brian Afanador |  PUR | |
| Match #9 | 24 Jul 15:45 | Table 2 | Bojan Tokič |  SLO | 11-7, 11-9, 11-5, 11-7 | Jeremy Hazin |  CAN | |
| Match #10 | 24 Jul 16:30 | Table 4 | Paul Drinkhall |  GBR | 11-7, 11-1, 11-5, 8-11, 12-10 | Nima Alamian |  IRI | |
| Match #11 | 24 Jul 21:00 | Table 3 | David Powell | AUS | 4 – 0 | Pavel Širuček | CZE | walkover |
| Match #12 | 24 Jul 20:15 | Table 4 | Kirill Skachkov |  ROC | 11-4, 11-13, 6-11, 11-7, 11-5, 11-8 | Dimitrije Levajac | SRB | |
| Match #13 | 24 Jul 19:30 | Table 3 | Kou Lei |  UKR | 11-6, 11-3, 11-7, 11-6 | Adem Hmam |  TUN | |
| Match #14 | 24 Jul 19:30 | Table 4 | Horacio Cifuentes | ARG | 11-2, 11-5, 12-10, 11-6 | Yoshua Shing |  VAN | |
| Match #15 | 24 Jul 21:45 | Table 4 | Bence Majoros |  HUN | 11-1, 11-5, 11-5, 11-2 | Larbi Bouriah |  ALG | |
| Match #16 | 24 Jul 21:45 | Table 1 | Tiago Apolónia |  POR | 11-7, 11-9, 11-6, 11-5 | Olajide Omotayo |  NGR | |
| Match | Date/Time | Location | Competitor (Seed) | NOC | Result | Competitor (Seed) | NOC | |
|---|
| Match #1 | 25 Jul 14:00 | Table 4 | Emmanuel Lebesson (22) |  FRA | 11-6, 11-8, 12-10, 13-11 | Andrej Gaćina | CRO | |
| Match #2 | 25 Jul 14:45 | Table 2 | Daniel Habesohn (31) |  AUT | 11-7, 11-9, 11-8, 6-11, 12-10 | Clarence Chew | SGP | |
| Match #3 | 25 Jul 14:45 | Table 3 | Panagiotis Gkionis (18) | GRE | 13-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-3, 11-6 | Ahmed Ali Saleh |  EGY | |
| Match #4 | 25 Jul 15:30 | Table 1 | Kirill Gerasimenko (27) |  KAZ | 3-11, 6-11, 11-7, 11-8, 2-11, 11-9, 11-4 | Lubomír Jančařík | CZE | |
| Match #5 | 25 Jul 17:00 | Table 4 | Anton Källberg |  SWE | 11-7, 11-5, 11-6, 11-5 | Nikhil Kumar (31) | USA | |
| Match #6 | 25 Jul 16:15 | Table 3 | Gustavo Tsuboi (28) |  BRA | 11-6, 9-11, 13-11, 11-9, 11-9 | Ovidiu Ionescu | ROU | |
| Match #7 | 25 Jul 17:00 | Table 3 | Darko Jorgić | SLO | 11-2, 12-10, 5-11, 9-11, 5-11, 15-13, 11-8 | Álvaro Robles (24) | ESP | |
| Match #8 | 25 Jul 14:00 | Table 1 | Lam Siu Hang (19) | HKG | 11-7, 7-11, 4-11, 5-11, 11-9, 12-10, 11-6 | Sathiyan Gnanasekaran |  IND | |
| Match #9 | 26 Jul 11:00 | Table 3 | Bojan Tokič (21) | SLO | 11-9, 11-8, 11-9, 12-10 | Tomislav Pucar | CRO | |
| Match #10 | 25 Jul 16:15 | Table 2 | Paul Drinkhall | GBR | 13-11, 6-11, 11-4, 12-10, 11-6 | Robert Gardos (30) | AUT | |
| Match #11 | 26 Jul 11:00 | Table 2 | Jang Wang |  SVK | 11-4, 11-4, 11-3, 11-3 | David Powell (26) | AUS | |
| Match #12 | 26 Jul 10:00 | Table 4 | Kirill Skachkov (20) | ROC | 11-9, 9-11, 11-9, 0-11, 11-7, 11-4 | Kanak Jha | USA | |
| Match #13 | 26 Jul 12:00 | Table 2 | Omar Assar | EGY | 15-13, 11-6, 11-4, 6-11, 8-11, 9-11, 11-4 | Kou Lei (29) | UKR | |
| Match #14 | 26 Jul 15:30 | Table 2 | Chuang Chih-Yuan (17) |  TPE | 5-11, 11-3, 13-11, 9-11, 5-11, 11-8, 11-7 | Horacio Cifuentes | ARG | |
| Match #15 | 26 Jul 12:00 | Table 1 | Jonathan Groth |  DEN | 12-10, 12-10, 11-4, 3-11, 12-10 | Bence Majoros (23) | HUN | |
| Match #16 | 26 Jul 10:00 | Table 1 | Sharath Kamal Achanta (25) | IND | 2-11, 11-8, 11-5, 9-11, 11-6, 11-9 | Tiago Apolónia | POR | |
| Match | Date/Time | Location | Competitor (Seed) | NOC | Result | Competitor (Seed) | NOC | |
|---|
| Match #1 | 27 Jul 11:00 | Table 3 | Fan Zhendong (1) |  CHN | 11-3, 11-4, 11-3, 11-4 | Emmanuel Lebesson (22) | FRA | |
| Match #2 | 26 Jul 15:30 | Table 4 | Marcos Freitas (9) | POR | 11-7, 3-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-13, 2-11, 11-3 | Daniel Habesohn (31) | AUT | |
| Match #3 | 27 Jul 10:00 | Table 1 | Jeong Yeong-Sik (10) |  KOR | 7-11, 11-7, 8-11, 10-12, 12-10, 11-6, 14-12 | Panagiotis Gkionis (18) | GRE | |
| Match #4 | 26 Jul 14:30 | Table 1 | Timo Boll (27) |  GER | 7-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-2, 11-1 | Kirill Gerasimenko (5) | KAZ | |
| Match #5 | 27 Jul 10:00 | Table 2 | Lin Yun-Ju (8) | TPE | 11-5, 9-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-9 | Anton Källberg | SWE | |
| Match #6 | 27 Jul 11:00 | Table 4 | Gustavo Tsuboi (28) | BRA | 13-15, 11-9, 11-6, 7-11, 11-7, 11-6 | Quadri Aruna (13) | NGR | |
| Match #7 | 26 Jul 15:30 | Table 3 | Darko Jorgić | SLO | 11-8, 7-11, 12-10, 11-13, 11-9, 12-10 | Liam Pitchford (11) | GBR | |
| Match #8 | 26 Jul 16:30 | Table 3 | Tomokazu Harimoto (4) |  JPN | 11-9, 13-11, 8-11, 12-10, 12-10 | Lam Siu Hang (19) | HKG | |
| Match #9 | 27 Jul 12:00 | Table 4 | Hugo Calderano (3) | BRA | 13-11, 11-7, 7-11, 11-9, 12-10 | Bojan Tokič (21) | SLO | |
| Match #10 | 26 Jul 14:30 | Table 4 | Jang Wu-Jin | KOR | 7-11, 12-10, 11-8, 11-8, 11-7 | Paul Drinkhall (14) | GBR | |
| Match #11 | 27 Jul 15:30 | Table 2 | Koki Niwa | JPN | 11-6, 11-8, 11-3, 12-10 | Jang Wang (15) | SVK | |
| Match #12 | 27 Jul 14:30 | Table 2 | Dimitrij Ovtcharov (7) | GER | 13-11, 11-3, 13-11, 11-4 | Kirill Skachkov (20) | ROC | |
| Match #13 | 27 Jul 15:30 | Table 3 | Omar Assar (6) | EGY | 11-5, 6-11, 8-11, 13-11, 4-11, 11-6, 11-8 | Mattias Falck | SWE | |
| Match #14 | 26 Jul 15:30 | Table 1 | Chuang Chih-Yuan (17) | TPE | 9-11, 11-5, 11-2, 11-2, 11-8 | Wong Chun Ting (16) | HKG | |
| Match #15 | 27 Jul 14:30 | Table 1 | Simon Gauzy | FRA | 12-10, 11-9, 11-9, 11-5 | Jonathan Groth (12) | DEN | |
| Match #16 | 27 Jul 12:00 | Table 1 | Ma Long (2) | CHN | 11-7, 8-11, 13-11, 11-4, 11-4 | Sharath Kamal Achanta (25) | IND | |
| Match | Date/Time | Location | Competitor (Seed) | NOC | Result | Competitor (Seed) | NOC | |
|---|
| Match #1 | 27 Jul 19:30 | Table 1 | Fan Zhendong (1) | CHN | 11-6, 11-6, 11-2, 5-11, 11-3 | Marcos Freitas (9) | POR | |
| Match #2 | 27 Jul 16:30 | Table 1 | Jeong Yeong-Sik (27) | KOR | 11-8, 7-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-4 | Timo Boll (10) | GER | |
| Match #3 | 27 Jul 16:30 | Table 4 | Lin Yun-Ju (8) | TPE | 11-5, 11-7, 11-2, 9-11, 9-11, 13-11 | Gustavo Tsuboi (28) | BRA | |
| Match #4 | 27 Jul 19:30 | Table 2 | Darko Jorgić (4) | SLO | 10-12, 11-9, 11-3, 10-12, 8-11, 11-7, 11-7 | Tomokazu Harimoto | JPN | |
| Match #5 | 27 Jul 20:30 | Table 4 | Hugo Calderano (3) | BRA | 11-7, 9-11, 6-11, 11-9, 4-11, 11-5, 11-6 | Jang Wu-Jin | KOR | |
| Match #6 | 27 Jul 21:30 | Table 2 | Dimitrij Ovtcharov (7) | GER | 11-4, 7-11, 11-0, 11-7, 11-9 | Koki Niwa | JPN | |
| Match #7 | 27 Jul 21:30 | Table 1 | Omar Assar (17) | EGY | 11-8, 6-11, 11-8, 7-11, 11-9, 5-11, 11-7 | Chuang Chih-Yuan (6) | TPE | |
| Match #8 | 27 Jul 20:30 | Table 1 | Ma Long (2) | CHN | 11-6, 9-11, 11-4, 11-7, 11-5 | Simon Gauzy | FRA | |
MGL