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Chinese gold medalists pose with their gold
Agencies
Updated: 2008-08-24 17:05
China lifted the men's Olympic team table tennis crown Monday after dowing European powerhouse Germany 3-0 in the final.
China's Ma Lin celebrates with his coach Liu Guoliang (L) after defeating Germany's Timo Boll 3-1 in their singles match, part of the men's team table tennis gold medal event during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games at the Peking University gymnasium on August 18, 2008. [Agencies] |
It was the second team title China claimed at Beijing table tennis tournament, 24 hours after the host's women stood atop of the poduim. The gold medal was also the 18th China won since its national sport was introduced a medal sport at the 1988 Seoul Games.
The Chinese men, ladden with champions, met little resistence from German challengers who went all out to derail the Chinese juggernaut and failed.
Germany, by finishing second, reaped its best-ever result since Jorg Rosskopf claimed the men's singles bronze medal at the 1996 Atlanta Games.
Wang Hao lived up to his world No. 1 billing as he breezily past 14-ranked Dimitrij Ovtcharov 3-0 in 20 minutes.
Dropping one set, Ma Lin managed to extend Chinese squad's winning stream to 2-0 after fending off ferocious charges of 6th-ranked veteran Timo Boll 3-1.
Boll, then paired with Christian Suss, took away one set from the hands of Wang Hao/Wang Liqin. The Chinese duo came back strong to finish off defiant Germans 3-1, bringing cheers from the frenzied home crowd with every winning shot.
China's supremacy was never in doubt as both the men's and women's teams forged their way into the final with unbeaten runs.
The Chinese men's team whitewashed South Korea 3-0 to storm into team final while Germany crushed a dogged Japan 3-2 to set up a date with China.