China clinched all six individual medals in table tennis yesterday, after Wang Liqin beat Sweden’s Jorgen Persson in the bronze medal match of men’s singles to seal a sweep of the event.
Persson, a 42-year-old playing in his sixth Olympics, was the only athlete who could have stopped China from utterly dominating table tennis at the Beijing Games. He opened strong against Wang but withered quickly against the high-speed topspin shots that are the specialty of the tall Chinese player.
“They played perfectly to create this perfect ending for the pingpong competition at the Beijing Olympics. I never dreamed it would be so easy,” Chinese coach Liu Guoliang said.
The Chinese men and women opened the competition by rolling over their opponents en route to winning the team events. The women swept the singles medals on Friday. In the gold medal match later yesterday night, world No. 2 Ma Lin of China defeated top-ranked teammate Wang Hao.
Though China has always been dominant in its national sport of table tennis, the record eight-medal haul is the strongest showing yet. Previously, it swept all three medals only once, in the women’s singles event at the 1988 Seoul Games.
The final was played with three red flags of China already prepared for the medal ceremony.
Ma outlasted Wang Hao in a tense matchup that showcased China’s overwhelming skill in pingpong.
The men tried to outwit each other with dynamic play that ranged from soft pushes to high-speed volleys. Ma won with a score of 11-9, 11-9, 6-11, 11-7, 11-9.
It was another disappointing finals appearance for Wang Hao, who was seeking to avenge an embarrassing loss to South Korea’s Ryu Seung-min in the Athens Games.
But he was choked with emotion after defeating Persson in the semi-final earlier in the day, relieved that China was assured of the gold.
“I’ve done my share, I’ve completed my task,” he said.
In the bronze medal match, Wang Liqin struggled in the first game against Persson but stormed back in the second on his way to sealing the win with a score of 13-11, 11-2, 11-5, 11-9.
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