Chi win in taekwondo and table tennis

Rio de Janeiro, Aug 18: Chi pocketed a gold medal each in table tennis and taekwondo at the Rio Olympics.

Chi defeated Japan 3-1 in the men's team fil on Wednesday for a clean sweep of Olympic titles in table tennis competition for the third straight time, reports Xinhua.

It was the 28th gold medal won by Chi in table tennis since the sport was introduced at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games.

World No. 1 Ma Long, who emerged the fifth man to complete a Grand Slam after being crowned the singles champion in Rio, scored two points in Wednesday evening's fil.

The 28-year-old started strong as the first positioned singles player, overcoming a mid-way blast and some netballs from the 22nd-ranked Koki Niwa, just 21 years old, to win in straight sets, 11-6, 11-9, 11-6.

To follow up Ma in the second game, Xu Xin, the sole penholder on the Chinese squad, stumbled against Japan's top paddler Jun Mizutani, conceding the first set 12-10 and the second 11-9.

The 26-year-old world No. 3 reopened the game in style, leading 6-0 into the third set before letting go just three points of 11-point format.

After taking the fourth set at 11-7, Xu looked on course for a come-from-behind victory. But he blew two match points when leading 10-8 in the fifth and decider. Mizutani, ranked sixth in the world, served to tie 10-10 before taking it 12-10.

The following doubles match was intense as Xu, pairing up with another Grand Slam winner Zhang Jike, easily surrendered the first set 11-4 before pulling back 11-6, 11-9, 11-5.

Ma then came up on court again to play Japan's 21st-ranked Maharu Yoshimura and just proved his flying form, rounding up the match with a 11-1, 11-4, 11-4 win.

Elsewhere, eighth-ranked Zhao Shuai of Chi won the men's under-58kg Olympic taekwondo title by beating Thailand's Tawin Hanprab 6-4 in the fil.

Zhao, the bronze medalist in the 2015 world championships, led from the first score and had a 5-1 margin after two rounds. Hanprab reduced the deficit to 5-4 in the fil round with a three-point head kick. But Zhao maged to stay calm and scored a point to hold onto his lead until the end. Japan was the biggest winner in wrestling, where they bagged all three women's titles. Eri Tosaka edged Mariya Stadnik of Azerbaijan 3-2 to win the women's freestyle 48kg gold.

In the 58kg fil, 10-time world champion and three-time defending champion Kaori Icho won in dramatic fashion, scoring a takedown off a single leg in the closing seconds on Valeria Koblova of Russia to win 3-2 and become the first-ever four-time Olympic wrestling champion.

Sara Dosho came from behind to beat former Olympic champion talia Vorobieva of Russia for the women's 69kg gold, wrapping up a golden night for Japan.

On back of the top performance in wrestling, Japan has lifted to sixth place on the medals table. IANS