China’s table tennis great Ma Long writes name in history books with perfect Olympic ending

PARIS – Ma Long made Chinese Olympic history with the sixth gold of his career on Aug 9 in the men’s team event to embellish his reputation as the best table tennis player ever.

The 35-year-old played his part in China’s 3-0 victory over Sweden in Paris, although the matches were closer than the result suggests.

Ma afterwards called it “the perfect ending” to his Olympic career, but stopped short of saying he was retiring.

“You might still see me on the international table tennis stage in the future,” he said.

“Of course this is my last Olympics, I am very proud and I feel very lucky,” added Ma, who said he will be busy trading pins with other countries’ teams in the remaining days at the Olympics.

Ma’s sixth gold took him past divers Wu Minxia and Chen Ruolin, and gymnast Zou Kai, with the most golds of any Chinese athlete in Olympic history.

As well as his record haul of Olympic golds, Ma has also won an astonishing 14 world titles and was China’s male flag bearer at the opening ceremony.

With a wealth of options at their disposal, China controversially overlooked Ma for the singles in Paris, denying him the chance to win a third gold in a row in that event.

In his absence, Fan Zhendong won gold instead.

In the first match of the final, Ma paired up with Wang Chuqin, and raced into a 6-1 lead in the opening game, only for Anton Kallberg and Kristian Karlsson to fight back and take the game 11-8.

The South Paris Arena was full to capacity, and the overwhelming majority were supporting China, many of them decked out in the country’s red.

They willed Ma and Wang to win the next game, but with little to decide between the two pairs, they went to a deciding fifth game.

Fittingly, Ma hit the winning shot with a howitzer of a forehand down the middle to put China 1-0 up (8-11, 11-4, 11-3, 6-11, 11-7) and on their way to another gold.

“These past 12 years have been a journey filled with ups and downs, and I feel incredibly fortunate,” said Ma.

“After Tokyo (Olympics) I didn’t expect to be here in Paris, but these three years have helped me grow mentally and technically.”

All the other matches also ended 3-2, with Fan beating Truls Moregard 10-12, 11-8, 11-9, 11-13, 11-5 in a repeat of the men’s singles final. Wang wrapped up the win beating Karlsson 11-9, 11-5, 10-12, 10-12, 11-2.

Earlier, France beat Japan 3-2 to take the bronze.

China claimed a sweep of the five golds at stake in Paris by adding the women’s team event to the men and women’s singles, mixed doubles and men’s team events.

In the last final on Aug 10, China outplayed Japan 3-0 for the women’s team crown, with South Korea bagging the bronze after beating Germany 3-0.

Chen Meng and Wang Manyu came from behind to edge out Hina Hayata and Miwa Harimoto 9-11, 11-6, 6-11, 11-6, 12-10 before Sun Yingsha put China 2-0 ahead with a 13-11, 11-6, 11-6 win over Miu Hirano. Wang sealed the gold by beating Harimoto 12-14, 12-10, 11-7, 11-6.

China have now won 37 of the 42 available titles since table tennis became an Olympic sport in 1988. The only other countries to have won gold are South Korea (three), and Japan and Sweden (both one). AFP, REUTERS