Tokyo, Japan, August 5, 2021: Wang Manyu won two matches as China whitewashed Japan 3-0 to win the Olympic Games table tennis women’s team competition for a fourth time at Tokyo Metropolitan Gym on Thursday.
The 22-year-old Asian Games champion teamed up with Tokyo 2020 women’s singles gold medallist Chen Meng to beat Japan’s Kasumi Ishikawa and Miu Hirano 3-1 (9-11, 11-6, 11-8, 11-7) in an explosive women’s doubles opener to give China a 1-0 lead.
In the first of the scheduled four singles matches, Sun Yingsha defeated Mima Ito 3-1 (11-8, 11-5, 3-11, 11-3) to make it 2-0. Sun had also beaten the Japanese No. 1 Ito 4-0 in the women’s singles semi-finals.
Wang closed out the win – and sealed the gold medal – with a 31-minute, 3-0 victory over Hirano (11-5, 11-9, 11-3).
With the title in the bag, there was no need for the two extra singles matches as China basked in an early victory and golden glory.
The bronze medal went to Hong Kong, China, the fourth seeds, who came back from losing the women’s doubles opener to beat third seeds Germany 3-1 with singles victories for Minnie Soo Wai Yam, Doo Hoi Kem and, finally, Soo again to end the contest.
