DPA
Paris
The first gold medal in table tennis at the Paris Olympics went to Chinese duo Sun Yingsha and Wang Chuqin on Tuesday in the mixed doubles competition.
The pair beat Ri Jong Sik and Kim Kum Yong 4-2 in the final as North Korea took silver for their first medal so far in the French capital.
The North Koreans did not take part in any sport in Tokyo three years ago due to coronavirus but their 16-strong team are already on the medals table on day four.
South Korea earlier defeated Hong Kong for bronze.
China’s Sun, 23, added another gold to the one she won in the team event in Tokyo, where she also took silver in the singles.
Wang, a double gold medallist at the 2018 Youth Olympics, had to deal with a bizarre incident after the Tuesday’s final when photographers broke his bat while jostling for snaps.
“At that moment, I lost control of my emotions a little. I couldn’t understand why the photographers would do that,” the 24-year-old said.
“I guess they didn’t mean it. I can’t do anything now that it’s already happened. I believe I’ll still be able to play well with my backup bat.” China picked up four of the five table tennis golds in Tokyo and will be looking to go one better this time given mixed doubles was the only one they missed out on three years ago.
“Every gold medal depends on hard work,” Wang said. “We can’t win it simply because we show up, or because people say we’re going to.”
Sun added: “We’ve known each other since we were kids and grew up together. We’re pleased with the result today, and hope we’ll be able to continue to do well in the coming events.” The next table tennis medals will be handed out on Saturday in the women’s singles.
