Fan Zhendong clinched Olympic gold in the men’s singles table tennis on Sunday, maintaining the Chinese stranglehold on the sport and ending a fairytale run for shock finalist Truls Moregard.
Roared on by a partisan crowd waving Chinese flags, world champion Fan outclassed the lower-ranked Swede 4-1 in a pulsating Paris final featuring some sensational rallies.
Moregard, world-ranked 26, was seeking to become the first man outside Asia to win Olympic gold since his compatriot Jan-Ove Waldner, who struck gold in Barcelona in 1992.
The 19th seed had already produced the shock of the tournament, beating Chinese top seed Wang Chuqin in the last 32, a day after a photographer broke Wang’s bat during celebrations for China’s mixed doubles gold.
Moregard started brilliantly against Fan, taking the first game 11-7, counter-attacking effectively on his backhand and seemingly causing the Chinese ace difficulty with his heavy top-spin.
But Fan, the second seed, hit back in the second game, levelling up the match with a fierce backhand top-spin drive up the line to take the game 11-9.
The third game also went the way of the Chinese player 11-9, Fan seizing game point with a forehand smash that brought the whole stadium to its feet.
Fan now seized control, taking the fourth game 11-8 to bring him within one game of gold.
The Chinese superstar dominated the fifth game, despite a last-ditch fight-back from Moregard, taking it 11-8.
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