China wins table tennis men's team gold in Olympic Games

 LONDON, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- China won the men's table tennis team final against South Korea on Wednesday, making a clean sweep of gold medals for the second consecutive¹ Olympics.

It was the 24th gold medal that China won at the Olympic table tennis competition since the sport was introduced at the 1988 Seoul Games.

Finishing second, South Korea won their first silver medal in a non-individual men's event after winning five previous bronze medals.

Ma Long, world number two, fought off a strong challenge from South Korea's Ryu Seung-Min, the Athens singles champion, and won the opening match 3-1 (11-6, 11-6, 6-11, 11-4).

Zhang Jike, the London Olympic singles gold medalist, got a slow start in the following match against South Korea's Joo Sae-Hyuk. He dropped one game, but fought back quickly and won the match 3-1 (11-9, 5-11, 11-6, 11-8).

South Korean pair Oh Sang-Eun and Ryu fought gallantly² in the doubles, but they failed to keep their match alive, losing 3-0 (11-4, 11-8, 11-6) to China's Zhang and Wang Hao, the London singles silver medalist.

Liu Guoliang, who has been at the helm of China's men's table tennis team for nearly 10 years, said the London Games has been the most exhausting experience because there has been more pressure than before.

The pressure came from the lack of experienced players and other changes the International Table Tennis Federation³ has made to the rules, such as the singles-first competition format⁴ and the reduce of players in the singles.

Both Zhang, 24, and Ma, 23, were competing in the Olympics for the first time. The only veteran in the Chinese men's team is 28-year-old Wang, who had participated in the Athens 2002 and Beijing 2008.

"We have brought through a new generation of players and balanced this with Wang. Today we went out fast and hard to ensure we could win. By bringing through new players each time we can stay at the top," Liu said.

Liu said Zhang and Ma have grown into the leading figures of China's new generation of players. "I hope the two could join hands and push China's men's table tennis to a new level."

The players and coaches of China and South Korea hugged each other after the match. All six players and two coaches, with arms around each other, posed⁵ for the photographer.

Yoo Nam-Kyu, South Korean coach, said winning the silver medal is out of his expectation since his players, all in their 30s, have suffered from injuries and could not have enough training.

"The players were very exhausted⁶. It would have been impossible for us to win even the bronze medal. But they fought hard and played well. I am so proud of them," Yoo said.

Germany won the bronze medal after beating their Hong Kong rivals in four matches.

Dimitrij Ovtcharov, who also won the bronze medal in singles in London, said the team bronze medal was the maximum for Germany since it had to play China in the semifinal. The medal will for sure boost⁷ the confidence of his team and help promote the sport in Germany.

1 consecutive   

adj.连续的，联贯的，始终一贯的

参考例句：

• It has rained for four consecutive days.已连续下了四天雨。
• The policy of our Party is consecutive.我党的政策始终如一。

2 gallantly   

adv. 漂亮地，勇敢地，献殷勤地

参考例句：

• He gallantly offered to carry her cases to the car. 他殷勤地要帮她把箱子拎到车子里去。
• The new fighters behave gallantly under fire. 新战士在炮火下表现得很勇敢。

3 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

4 format   

n.设计，版式；[计算机]格式，DOS命令:格式化(磁盘)，用于空盘或使用过的磁盘建立新空盘来存储数据；v.使格式化，设计，安排

参考例句：

• Please format this floppy disc.请将这张软盘格式化。
• The format of the figure is very tasteful.该图表的格式很雅致。

5 posed   

使摆姿势( pose的过去式和过去分词 )； 以…身份出现； 招摇； 炫耀

参考例句：

• The players strutted and posed for the cameras. 运动员昂首阔步，摆好姿势让记者拍照。
• After the wedding we all posed for a photograph. 婚礼之后，我们全体排好拍了一张照片。

6 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

7 boost   

n.鼓励，激励，提高；v.鼓励，使增强信心

参考例句：

• This will be a great boost to the economy.这对于经济发展将是一个巨大的促进。
• These changes will help to boost share prices.这些变化将有助于提高股票价格。