BEIJING, Aug 22: China’s world No 1 Zhang Yining won back-to-back Olympic Games table tennis golds on Friday, defeating team-mate Wang Nan and handing the hosts a clean sweep of the medals in the women’s singles competition.

A composed and confident Zhang fought back from one game down against the retiring veteran Wang, winning 8-11, 13-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-3 in a battle of the giants of the sport.

The win hands Zhang her fourth gold medal over two Olympics, after success in the women’s singles and doubles in Athens and team and singles competition in Beijing, equally the great Deng Yaping’s gold medal haul.

For Wang, the loss means the 29-year-old retires from the sport without winning another gold to add to her collection of four over three Olympics.

China, where millions play table tennis across the country, have never lost the women’s singles crown since the sport was introduced at the 1988 Olympics.

China also has a chance to clean sweep all of the medals on the men’s side, with Sweden’s Jorgen Persson the only player left to halt the powerful trio led by world No 1 Wang Hao in the semi-finals on Saturday.Earlier on Friday, Zhang beat former classmate and Beijing team-mate Li, who moved to Singapore when she was a teenager, in the semi-finals 4-1.

The Singaporean had been hoping for an upset after helping the city-state win its first medal in 48 years, with silver in the women’s team competition.

Wang earlier defeated 20-year-old Guo in a tightly fought contest 4-2, in a match pitching the old generation against the new.—AFP