Chinese Complete Doubles Sweep

It looked like Chinese table tennis practice, and why not?

Kong Linghui and Liu Guoliang came out and high-fived Lu Lin and Wang Tao, then beat them for the Olympic men’s doubles gold medal, 21-8, 18-21, 21-19, 21-17.

In the doubles final, all the players knew each other well. Kong beat Liu for the world singles title last year and teamed with Wang for the world doubles championship.

The title match turned quickly in the first set at 11-5, when Wang twisted his right ankle. He stopped and had the ankle taped, then came back and lost the next five points against him.

“Perhaps it affected my speed,” he said.

It was the second consecutive all-China table tennis final. In Monday’s women’s doubles, Deng Yaping and Qiao Hong teamed up to win the gold medal.

Dong, seeking to repeat the table tennis double she achieved in Barcelona, bet Liu Wei of China, 21-23, 21-17, 21-19, 21-9, to qualify for the women’s final.

Qiao lost to to Chen Jing of Taiwan, 21-9, 23-21, 21-17.

In the men’s doubles bronze-medal match, Lee Chul-seung and Yoo Nam-kyu of South Korea defeated Germany’s Steffen Fetzner and Joerg Rosskopf.

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Medalists / Table Tennis

Men’s Doubles

Gold: Kong Llinghui and Liu Guoliang, China

Silver: Lui Lin and Wang Tao, China

Bronze: Lee Chul-Seong and Yoo Nam-kyu, South Korea