UPDATE 1-Olympics-Table Tennis-China women thrash Germany to claim gold

By Brenda Goh
Reuters

* China beats Germany 3-0

* Germany only wins one game throughout match

* China says already looking to Tokyo 2020 (Adds athlete quotes)

RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug 16 (Reuters) - China continued to show why they are the goliath of table tennis on Tuesday with a dominant win over Germany to take the women's team gold, the champions dropping only one game in the final.

In a 3-0 whitewash that lasted just one-and-a-half hours, China's Li Xiaoxia and Liu Shiwen utilized booming smashes and prodigious spin shots to overcome Han Ying and Petrissa Solja of Germany without dropping a game in the opening singles matches.

Germany showed a little resistance in the doubles match when they took the third game but Liu and her partner Ding Ning soon regained control to complete a resounding victory.

"Losing that game made the competition more anxious and exciting...But of course I didn't want to lose any game," Liu said.

"I'd admit I was anxious to win the match and the gold medal but we also had to allow our opponent to participate in a gold medal match. We eventually won so I'm very happy anyway," she said.

Despite the lop-sided manner of the defeat, the silver represents the best ever result for Germany in women's table tennis after the country had failed to win a medal of any kind until they defeated Japan in a four-hour marathon in the semis.

"The fact that we won one game makes us happy," said Germany's Han. "Skills-wise the gap between us and China is simply too big, so this is the first time I've not felt pressure while playing a match, it was just about enjoying table tennis," she said.

China has won 26 out of 30 golds awarded in table tennis since the sport joined the Olympic program in 1988, claiming gold and silver in both singles events in Rio so far and are favorites to win the men's team title.

The women's team head coach, Kong Linghui, said that while the journey to the title this year had been relatively smooth and relaxing, they were already strategizing for Tokyo 2020, where they expect the young Japanese team to become a stronger threat.

"Whether the current team will be able to continue to 2020 we are still talking to them about it. If we send a completely new team then it will be a tough battle," he said.

Fifteen-year-old Mima Ito of Japan became the youngest ever Olympic table tennis medallist after she helped her team to clinch the bronze medal earlier in the day, easing to victory over Singapore's Feng Tianwei to secure a 3-1 win. (Reporting by Brenda Goh; Editing by John O'Brien and Andrew Hay)

08/16/2016 21:39