TOKYO, July 30: China’s Ma Long on Friday became the first male table tennis player to win back-to-back Olympic singles titles after outclassing world No.1 and teammate Fan Zhendong 4-2 in the final here on Friday.
Ma won the duel 11-4, 10-12, 11-8, 11-9, 3-11, 11-7 in front of International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, reports Xinhua.
It’s the third straight final contested between the Chinese duo in major events, after the ITTF World Cup and the ITTF Finals in November. They won one title each in the previous two clashes.
In an earlier match, Germany’s Dimitrij Ovtcharov bagged bronze after beating Lin Yun-Ju of Chinese Taipei in a seven-set thriller.
IANS