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PARIS: Fan Zhendong won the men’s singles gold in table tennis at the Olympics on Sunday, continuing China’s monopoly in the event and ending the fairytale run of shock finalist Truls Moergard.
Cheered on by a frenetic crowd waving Chinese flags, world champion Fan Bingbing defeated the lower-ranked Swede 4-1 in a thrilling Paris final that featured several spectacular clashes.
Moregaard, ranked 26th in the world, is hoping to become the first male athlete from outside Asia to win Olympic gold since his compatriot Jan-Ove Waldner won the gold at the 1992 Barcelona Games.
The 19th seed had already created a miracle of the tournament, defeating China’s top seed Wang Chuqin in the round of 32, just a day after a photographer broke Wang’s racket during China’s mixed doubles gold medal celebrations.
Moregaard got off to a great start against Fan Zhiyi, winning the first game 11-7, fighting back effectively with his backhand and causing great difficulties for the Chinese master with his heavy topspin.
But second seed Fan Bingbing fought back in the second game, tying the score with a fierce backhand topspin and winning the game 11-9.
In the third game, the Chinese team also won 11-9. Van Persie seized the game point with a forehand smash, which made the audience excited.
Van Persie then took control of the match, winning the fourth game 11-8, just one game away from the gold medal.
Despite Moregaard’s late fightback, the Chinese superstar dominated the fifth game to win 11-8.
He turned to his coach, who threw him into the air in celebration, and the two of them then grabbed a Chinese flag and saluted to the cheering audience.
This gold medal gave Fan Bingbing revenge, as she was defeated in the singles final of the Tokyo Olympics and only won the silver medal.
Fan Bingbing, a major star in China with 3.3 million followers on the Twitter-like Weibo, once had to ask fans to restrain themselves after someone broke into her hotel room and stole her underwear.
In the bronze medal match, local hope Felix Lebrun easily defeated Brazilian Hugo Calderano 4-0.
China is the undisputed powerhouse of the sport and once again dominated in Paris, with Chen Meng defeating Sun Yingsha to win the women’s singles gold in an all-China event.
Wang Qiang and Sun Yang also won mixed doubles gold. — AFP
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