China dominate table tennis again but new stars are rising
After a strong showing at Rio 2016, young Japanese players are well positioned to challenge the sport's superpower at Tokyo 2020
China's Ma Long helped steer his country to team gold against Japan on Wednesday (17 August) (Photo: Getty Images/Phil Walter)
China can now claim 28 of the 32 gold medals awarded at Olympic Games since table tennis was introduced in 1988, having completed a clean sweep of the four titles at Rio 2016 with victories in the men's and women's team events and in the men's and women's singles, won by Ma Long and Ding Ning respectively.
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On the night of Wednesday (17 August), Ma helped China overcome a tougher than expected challenge from Japan to win the gold medal match 3-1 in the men's team event as table tennis competition concluded at Riocentro Pavilion 3.
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.
'Fat Dragon' Ma Long hungry to win first table tennis singles
Things are promising too for Japan's male players with 27-year-old Jun Mizutani and 23-years-olds Koki Niwa and Maharu Yoshimura all set to be in their prime during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, where backed by a home crowd they can push to improve on the men's team silver and Mizutani's singles bronze won in Rio.
Jun Mizutani of Japan will be one of the names to watch at Tokyo 2020 (Photo: Getty Images/Phil Walter)
Germany too had a strong Games, securing silver in the women's team event and bronze in the men's. Unlike Japan, however, this was likely the swansong of a golden era rather than the beginning of a new one. The German contingent included a pair of 35-year-old men in Timo Boll and Bastian Steger and two 33-year-old female players in Han Ying and SHan Xiaona.
On Wednesday, Germany triumphed in the bronze medal match over Republic of Korea 3-1, with a neck injury not stopping Boll from winning the doubles match with Steger and then winning his singles encounter 3-0 against Joo Saehyuk to seal the medal for Germany.
"After we won the doubles we knew we had a very good chance and Timo was just great how he played in the end. Timo is the man," Steger said.
One of the most unlikely successes was the women's singles bronze medallist Kim Song I of DPR Korea, who with her world ranking of no.50 and unfashionable defensive style, defied expectations all the way to the podium.
