If there were any thoughts that China's dominance in table tennis might end at the 2016 Rio Olympics, those thoughts have long since evaporated. With a dominant victory from their women's team on Tuesday night, China secured their third gold medal in as many events, and they will have a chance to earn a complete sweep of the gold medals tomorrow in the men's team event, which would be their third consecutive sweep of the gold medals in the Olympics.
To earn their third table tennis gold, China needed just 85 minutes to wallop Germany 3-0 in the gold medal match of the women's team event. In winning the three matches to take the gold medal, China lost just one individual game, one of two games they lost over the course of their undefeated romp through the Olympics.
Li Xiaoxia dominates in Game 1
After overcoming a shaky start in the first game of the match, Li rebounded to cruise to a three-game sweep of Han Ying. Down 9-7, the Chinese silver medalist rebounded to score the last four points, taking the victory and the lead. After choking in Game 1, Han didn't look the same in the next two games. Up 3-2, Li broke off seven straight points to take absolute control of the game, cruising to the 11-3 finish. In Game 3, Han stayed with Li through the first half of the game, the score tied 6-6. However, the German could not keep it up, as the Chinese paddler took five of the last six points to claim the victory.
Liu Shiwen breezes in Game 2
Unlike Li's game, which was close at times, Liu Shiwen just absolutely dominated in the second singles match of the evening, 11-3, 11-5, 11-4. Liu dominated Game 1, and recovered from early 2-0 deficits in the last two games to thoroughly dominate her German opponent and bring China within a doubles victory of the gold medal.
China drops one game but claims gold medal
In the doubles match, China lost a rare game, but they still won 3-1 and snatched up their third gold medal in table tennis in Rio. Gold medalist Ding Ning and Shiwen paired up to make a winning duo. They never trailed in the first two games, which paced them to 11-6 and 11-5 victories. They late their first gold medal-clinching opportunity slip away in Game 3, as their 5-3 lead evaporated and the Chinese duo faltered in the 11-9 loss. After giving up the first point in Game 4, it looked like momentum may have started to edge towards the Germans, who were fighting to stay alive. However, Ding and Shiwen rebounded for three straight points and never let their lead go, cruising to a clinching 11-7 victory.
Three of four table tennis events have come and gone, and China still owns the gold medal in all three. The men's team finals, between China and Japan, will be played tomorrow, as China looks to complete a clean sweep of the gold medals here in Rio.