Chinese men get table tennis gold

China’s dominance of Olympics table tennis dates all the way back to 1988 when the sport was first introduced to the games, and the national men’s team was looking to win yet another gold.

But Zhang and Xu calmly took the next three doubles games to beat Maharu Yoshimura, ranked No. 21, and Niwa to take a 2-1 lead in the match.

“This game has given us confidence in playing the Chinese team”, said Mizutani.

A look ahead to the final day of table tennis at the Rio Olympics with the men’s finals Wednesday.

Japan, which won a silver medal at London 2012, will now play for a bronze on Tuesday against China or Singapore.

China might dominate the past and present, but for the future a new challenger is rising in the shape of Japanese 15-years-old Mima Ito, who became the youngest table tennis Olympic Games medallist as part of her country’s bronze-medal winning women’s team.

Jun Mizutanii of team Japan at a men’s table tennis match.

The Chinese women’s team coach, Kong Linghui, also spoke of the strength of their Japanese opponents, saying that their early exposure to such high-level global competitions at a young age would likely help them become an even tougher force to be reckoned with in four years.

“I thought I had a chance to win in the fifth game when I was leading. but I didn’t make the best of the opportunity”. After defeating the German team on the women’s side 3-0, the men’s team also wouldn’t lose after defeating the Japan trio 3-1.

In earlier competitions, Jamaica’s seven-time Olympic champion Usain Bolt qualified fastest for Thursday’s 200m final as he continues his quest for a third straight Olympic gold medal in the event. Then, after throwing away two match points in the fourth, they saved a game point from Singapore and kept on going, taking the next two points to win the game and the match. He cleared the first hurdle in the form of Adham Ahmed Saleh Kahk of Egypt but proved to be no match against Chunayev.

“Jun (Mizutani) has put tremendous pressure on us today and he also gave his team a lot of strength”, he said.

In the third frame, Jeoung built an 8-4 lead before Zhang scored five straight points. “I am just so glad the three of us were able to win the medal”.