China close on table tennis sweep

Feng Li / Getty Images

China closed on a second successive clean sweep of table tennis Olympic gold medals as Ding Ning, Li Xiaoxia and Guo Yue overcame Japan in the women's team event final.

With only two competitors per country allowed to enter the singles, the Asian powerhouse set out to take a maximum haul of four golds and two silvers from London.
They were put on course to do just that last week as Li overcame countrywoman Ding in the women's individual final before Zhang Jike did likewise versus Wang Hao in the men's.
And China are now just one step away from completing the sweep after their female trio eased to a 3-0 victory against Ai Fukuhara, Kasumi Ishikawa and Sayaka Hirano.
They will finish the job if Zhang, Wang and Ma Long can, as expected, beat South Korea in Wednesday's men's team final.
China's dominance - victory on Wednesday would represent a repeat of their efforts in Beijing - is a far cry from what Japan have experienced since the sport was added to the schedule at Seoul 1988.
Indeed, their silver is Japan's first ever table tennis Olympic medal, meaning there is still cause for celebration in defeat.
Singapore, meanwhile, took third prize after cruising past South Korea in the bronze-medal match earlier in the day.
That sealed a second bronze in London for singles third-place finisher Feng Tianwei, who was alongside Wang Yuegu and Li Jiawei.
As is often the case when China and Japan meet, the additional power of the Chinese proved pivotal.
That was particularly evident in the first match as Li beat Fukuhara, who enjoys national-hero status in Japan.
Fukuhara was initially competitive and after losing the opening game, levelled their tussle in impressive fashion.
Yet Li stepped on the accelerator thereafter, with a series of powerful forehands and backhand flicks ensuring she took the next two games 11-2 and 11-5.
World number one Ding, chasing a first Olympic gold having settled for second place in the individual format, looked in a determined mood.
Powerful on both sides, the world champion was inspired by a vocal crowd and looked in complete control throughout against Ishikawa.
Her opponent, who finished fourth in the singles, threatened a comeback after losing the opening game.
Indeed, Ishikawa led for much of the next, only for Ding's top-spin loaded forehands to come to the fore as she took it 12-10.
The third game was a decidedly easier affair as Ding put China on the brink of further gold.
Their success was then sealed in another dominant match, with Guo and Li brushing aside Hirano and Ishikawa in the doubles 3-1 - 11-6, 11-3, 9-11, 11-5.