Paris Olympics 2024: China’s Chen wins women’s singles gold, teammate Sun takes silver

China’s Chen Meng won the gold medal in the women’s table tennis singles final at the Paris Olympics on Saturday, with her teammate Sun Yingsha taking silver.

Meng Chen of the Team People’s Republic of China celebrates victory with opponent Yingsha Sun of Team People’s Republic of China following the Table Tennis Women’s Singles Gold Medal match on day eight of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at South Paris Arena on August 03, 2024, in Paris, France. | Photo Credit: Getty Images

History repeated itself for China’s defending champion Chen Meng when she beat teammate Sun Yingsha to win the women’s singles table tennis gold medal at the Paris Olympics on Saturday, just as she had done at the Tokyo Games.

Chen, 30, became the third female table tennis player to win gold medals in singles at two consecutive Olympics.

Sun, the world number one, won the opening game comfortably with an 11-4 score.

Chen remained calm under pressure, especially when she went behind in the sixth game, to win the match 4-2.

Two table tennis Grand Slam champions, Zhang Yining and Ding Ning were present in the stands to watch the match.

In the earlier bronze-medal match, Japan’s Hina Hayata overcame injury to defeat South Korea’s Shin Yu-bin in a hard-fought 4-2 victory that left her in tears.

It was Japan’s second medal in the event, following Mimo Ito’s bronze in Tokyo three years ago.