Ryu Seung-Min from South Korea destroyed China’s dream of sweeping all the gold medals at the table tennis for a third consecutive Olympics with victory over Wang Hao in a gripping men’s singles final today.
Ryu, the world No.3, outlasted fourth-ranked Wang Hao in a see-sawing match to eventually win 11-3, 9-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-13, 11-9 in 45 minutes.
Ryu’s victory makes him the second South Korean to ever win an Olympic table tennis singles gold, following Yoo Nam-Kyu’s victory in the men’s singles in 1988.
South Korea’s only other gold in the sport was also at Seoul when Hyun Jung-Hwa and Yang Young-Ja won the women’s doubles.
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Ryu had a chance to take the gold in the fifth set with a match point at 10-9, but Wang Hao stayed in the match with a backhand winner, and he then eventually forced an error from Ryu to take the set 13-11.
But Ryu did not let slip his second match point at 10-9 in the sixth set, and as Wang Hao dropped his racket in disappointment, Ryu screamed out in elation, then sprinted to his coach and jumped into his arms.
With Ryu aged 22 and Wang Hao 20, the final represented the new generation of Asia’s table tennis stars.
The South Korean had defeated the 38-year-old legend, Jan Ove-Waldner of Sweden, in the semi-finals yesterday, while Wang Hao upset his team mate and world No.1, 26-year-old Wang Liqin.
For China, Wang Hao’s loss was a huge disappointment as the nation was aiming to repeat its feat at Atlanta and Sydney of winning all the golds in both men’s and women’s singles and doubles.
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Wang Hao went into the match with China having completed three of the four legs.
Chinese world No.1 Zhang Yining won the women’s singles title on Sunday, two days after teaming with Wang Nan for the doubles crown.
In the men’s doubles, Chinese top seeds Chen Qi and Ma Lin won the doubles on Saturday.
Earlier in the day, Wang Liqin overcame his semi-final disappointment to defeat the unseeeded Waldner 10-12, 11-3, 11-8, 11-7, 11-9 for the bronze medal.
Waldner, 1992 Olympic champion and runner-up in Sydney four years ago, was aiming to become the only player in Olympic history to win a medal of every colour in the table tennis singles event.