Paris, Aug 4 2024-
China’s Chen Meng defended her Olympic crown in the table tennis women’s singles after defeating world No.1 Sun Yingsha 4-2 in the final at the 33rd Olympic Games here on Saturday. Chen, 30, the second seed in the event, outclassed compatriot Sun 4-11, 11-7, 11-4, 9-11, 11-9 and 11-6 at the South Paris Arena 4.
Paris saw the second Chen-Sun Olympic singles final showdown. At Tokyo 2020, Chen also overcame Sun 4-2 to claim the Olympic title.
Chen came back strongly after losing the first game to take a 2-1 lead. But the top seed fought back to win the fourth game before Chen wrapped up the match and gold medal by winning the next two games.
Earlier on Saturday, Hina Hayata of Japan claimed the bronze medal after beating Shin Yu-bin of South Korea 4-2, reports Xinhua.
On Friday, Sun Yingsha and Chen Meng, the top and second seeds in the women’s singles, defeated their respective opponents in the semifinals to set up an all-Chinese final. Defending champion Chen swept past Shin Yu-bin of South Korea 11-7, 11-6, 11-7 and 11-7 before Sun outclassed Hina Hayata of Japan 11-6, 11-8, 11-8 and 11-2.
In men’s singles, top seed China’s Wang Chuqin had earlier failed to reach the Round of 16 following a surprising 2-4 defeat to Truls Moregard of Sweden.
Wang, a 24-year-old Olympic debutant who took gold in the mixed doubles on Tuesday with his partner Sun Yingsha, was denied the chance to advance further after just two matches in the men’s singles event, losing 10-12, 7-11, 11-5, 11-7, 9-11 and 6-11 to the 22-year-old Swede at the South Paris Arena 4. (Agency)
