With China having swept all four table tennis competitions at each of the last two Summer Olympics, they were expected to do the same in Rio. The Chinese completed that run Wednesday evening, as the men took gold in the men’s team competition.
China defeated Japan in the gold medal match three wins to one, with Jun Mizutani’s win over Xu Xin in the second singles match of the final being the lone victory for the silver medalists. For Ma Long and Zhang Jike this is their second medal of these Olympics, with Ma defeating Zhang in the men’s singles gold medal match. Mizutani leaves Rio with two medals as well, as he took bronze in men’s singles.
In the bronze medal match Germany defeated South Korea three wins to one, taking bronze for the second consecutive Summer Olympics and winning a medal in men’s team for the third consecutive Olympics. Germany took silver in Beijing in 2008. All three players were part of Germany’s bronze medal team in London, with two members (Timo Boll and Dimitrij Ovtcharov) having been part of all three of those teams.