Fan Zhendong and Ma Long are making table tennis history
China's dominant table tennis players reinforce their status as the undisputed world number one. Team gold goes to the top stars from the Middle Kingdom. However, the Swedes put up a good fight despite three losses in three games.
The men's team event at the Olympic table tennis tournament remains a domain of China's perennial winners. In the final against Germany's quarterfinal conquerors Sweden in Paris, the world champions extended their gold medal streak, which has been in place since the competition's debut 16 years ago, with a 3:0 victory. However, the Asians had to win all three matches in the deciding set, with Sweden fielding the Bundesliga trio of Truls Moregardh, Anton Kallberg, and Kristian Karlsson.
Bronze went to the host nation and World Championship runners-up France, led by individual bronze medalist Felix Lebrun, with a 3:2 win over Japan. The German Table Tennis Association (DTTB) team, which won silver in Tokyo three years ago, finished fifth in the Olympic team event without a medal.
For China, led by individual Olympic champion Fan Zhendong, the victory in the final against their former arch-rivals was their fourth gold medal in the Paris table tennis competitions. On Saturday (3 PM), in the women's final against Japan, the team from the Middle Kingdom can achieve the fourth "clean sweep" of all gold medals by an Asian team at an Olympic table tennis tournament. Only at the last Games in Tokyo did China not win all the available gold medals.
With the victory of the Chinese men's team, three-time world champion Ma Long won his fourth Olympic team gold medal and his sixth overall. In addition to the team, he also won the individual events in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro and 2021 in Tokyo. With his unique records, Ma solidified his status as the most successful table tennis player in Olympic history. He also took the lead in the ranking for the most Olympic medals, surpassing German national player Dimitrij Ovtcharov, who had been the sole record holder with two individual bronzes and four additional team medals until Paris.
In the upcoming women's final, China aims to achieve a "clean sweep" of all gold medals in table tennis at the Paris Olympics. Paris, being the host city, will also contest for medals in this event.
