With exactly 13 years having passed since that day, let us look back at the 2008 Olympics when China dominated the sport ot table tennis.
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That China have dominated in the sport of table tennis is at this point a well-known fact. This domination has manifested itself not only in table tennis events but in the Olympics too. The Chinese have won a grand total of 60 medals in the sport of table tennis at the Summer Olympics. Of those, 32 are gold medals while 20 are silver medals, with the remaining 8 being bronze medals. This domination was in full show at the 2008 Olympics that were held in Beijing. China won 8 medals in the sport, sweeping all medals in the men’s and women’s singles event while also winning gold in the team events.
With exactly 13 years having passed since that day, let us look back at the Games when China dominated the sport ot table tennis.
The schedule of the table tennis events was such that the team events finished a few days before the individual ones. The women’s team event concluded on August 17 while the men’s team event ended a day later.
In both of those events, China went on to claim the gold medal. The women’s team consisted of Guo Yue, Wang Nan and Zhang Yining and they beat Singapore in the final.
The bronze medal was claimed by South Korea, who in a nice little coincidence also won the bronze medal in the men’s team event.
China’s men’s team had star players Wang Hao, Ma Lin and Wang Liqin claim the gold medal. They beat Germany in the final.
Yet if some felt they dominated the team event, it was nothing compared to how the nation fared in the individual events.
In the men’s singles, Ma Lin defeated Korean player Oh Sang Eun in the quarterfinals (4–0). He then beat rival Wang Liqin 4-2 in the semifinals and world number 1 Wang Hao in the finals (4–1).
As a result, China won all three medals on offer. It was a feat they repeated in the women’s singles event. Zhang Yining beat Wang Nan 4-1 in the finals, with Guo Yue winning bronze.
The Chinese domination forced the (International Olympic Committee) IOC and the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) to change rules for the events.
From 2012 onwards, a country could only enter 2 competitors in the men’s and women’s singles events. The previous rule of three was dropped.
