China completed a second consecutive Olympic clean sweep of all four table tennis gold medals when they overwhelmed South Korea 3-0 in the men’s team final yesterday.
Despite a tweak to the table tennis entry rules which limited the number of Chinese players in the draws for the various Olympic tournaments, results in London have mirrored the rout in Beijing four years ago.
Olympic champion Zhang Jike won the outstanding contest in the second match of a final played before an enthusiastic full house, the majority of whom were Chinese supporters.
Zhang downed Joo Sae-Hyuk 11-9, 5-11, 11-6, 11-6 with a masterful display which mixed fierce fast-looped attacks and sudden changes of direction.
Earlier Ma Long, the world number two, was too sharp for Ryu Seung-Min, who was the Olympic champion in Athens eight years ago, also winning in four games.
The winning lead was completed by a straight games win in the doubles by Zhang and Wang Hao, the Olympic silver medallist, against Ryu and Oh Sang-eun.
Wang made the winning hit to capture the gold medal, offering some compensation for having won the silver medal for a third Olympics in a row. Zhang said China had not expected to clinch a second sweep of the medals.
“I am happy not only because it’s my first Olympics but because the team event exceeded our expectations,” Zhang said through an interpreter.
Meanwhile, Wang Hao praised the support from fans inside the Excel and back home in China.
“There are only three people playing and there are millions of people supporting us, and it’s appreciated,” he said.
“It feels very emotional to win it in this atmosphere.”
Earlier, Germany won the bronze medal with a 3-1 win over Hong Kong, the winning point being struck by former world number one Timo Boll, with a 9-11, 11-5, 11-9, 11-9 success against Jiang Tianyi, the world number 20.
Boll had earlier beaten Zhang Jike in the team semi-finals. But now he is talking of starting a family and reducing the amount he competes.
Germany head coach Jorg Rosskopf said Boll’s win showed the Chinese could be beaten when the next games roll around in 2016.
“We have shown that we can beat Chinese players,” Rosskopf said.
Medals table
| Country | G | S | B | Tot. |
| China | 35 | 25 | 19 | 76 |
| United States | 34 | 22 | 25 | 81 |
| Great Britain | 22 | 13 | 13 | 48 |
| South Korea | 12 | 6 | 6 | 24 |
| Russia | 11 | 19 | 22 | 52 |
| France | 8 | 9 | 11 | 28 |
| Germany | 7 | 15 | 10 | 32 |
| Italy | 7 | 6 | 4 | 17 |
| Hungary | 6 | 2 | 3 | 11 |
| Kazakhstan | 6 | 0 | 2 | 8 |
| Australia | 5 | 12 | 9 | 26 |
| Netherlands | 5 | 4 | 6 | 15 |
| Japan | 4 | 13 | 14 | 31 |
| Iran | 4 | 3 | 1 | 8 |
| North Korea | 4 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| Cuba | 3 | 3 | 1 | 7 |
| New Zealand | 3 | 2 | 5 | 10 |
| Belarus | 3 | 2 | 4 | 9 |
| South Africa | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| Ukraine | 3 | 0 | 6 | 9 |
| Romania | 2 | 5 | 2 | 9 |
| Denmark | 2 | 4 | 3 | 9 |
| Jamaica | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| Brazil | 2 | 1 | 7 | 10 |
| Poland | 2 | 1 | 5 | 8 |
| Croatia | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Switzerland | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Ethiopia | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Spain | 1 | 5 | 1 | 7 |
| Canada | 1 | 4 | 9 | 14 |
| Sweden | 1 | 3 | 3 | 7 |
| Czech Republic | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 |
| Kenya | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| Slovenia | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Georgia | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Norway | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Domenican Rep. | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Lithuania | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Algeria | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Grenada | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Venezuela | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Mexico | 0 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| Colombia | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| Azerbaijan | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Egypt | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| India | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Slovakia | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Armenia | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Belgium | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Mongolia | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Estonia | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Indonesia | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Serbia | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Thailand | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Tunisia | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Cyprus | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Finland | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Guatemala | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Malaysia | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Portugal | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Taipei | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Greece | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Moldova | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Qatar | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Singapore | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Argentina | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Hong Kong | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Ireland | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Saudi Arabia | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Kuwait | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Morocco | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Puerto Rico | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Tajikistan | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Trinidad | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Turkey | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Uzbekistan | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Today’s finals
Athletics: Men’s triple jump, men’s 800m, men’s 200m, women’s javelin.
Beachvolley: Men’s final.
Boxing: 51kg (M), 60 kg (M), 75kg (W).
Canoe-kayak: Men’s C2 1,000m, men’s K4 1,000m, women’s K1 500m, women’s K2 500m.
Equestrian: Dressage individual.
Football: Women’s final.
Swimming: women’s 10km.
Diving: Women’s 10m.
Taekwondo: 57kg (W), 68kg (M).
Sailing: Men’s 470.
Waterpolo: Women’s final.
Wrestling: Women’s 55kg, 72kg.
Results
Basketball
Men’s QFs: Brazil vs Argentina 77-82; France vs Spain 59-66; Russia vs Lit-huania 83-74; US vs Australia late.
Beach Volley
Women’s final: Ross/Kessy (US) vs May Treanor/Walsh Jennings (US) 0-2.
Handball
Men’s QFs: Iceland vs Hungary 33-34; Sweden vs Denmark 24-2; Spain vs France 22-23; Croatia vs Tunisia late.
Hockey
Women’s SFs: Holland vs N. Zealand 2-2 (3-1 pens); Argentina vs Britain 2-1.
Volleyball
Men’s QFs: Bulgaria vs Germany late; Poland vs Russia 0-3; Argentina vs Brazil 0-3; US vs Italy 0-3.
Waterpolo
Men’s QFs: Croatia vs US 8-2; Spain vs Montenegro 9-11; Italy vs Hungary 11-9; Australia vs Serbia 8-11.
Semi-finals: Croatia vs Montenegro; Italy vs Serbia.