China to defend table tennis women's team title against Japan at Olympics

TOKYO -- China took the third convincing 3-0 victory here on Wednesday at the Olympics table tennis women's team event, beating Germany to set up a final matchup against hosts Japan.

The all-time leading Chinese, who have claimed all three previous gold medals since the team events were introduced to the Olympic table tennis competition in Beijing 2008, appointed Sun Yingsha as the first-choice singles player this time, a third format here so far.

And the 20-year-old played up to her name, limiting her defensive style opponent Han Ying effectively with heavy strokes and bumping to a 3-0 victory easily, 11-6, 11-4, 11-9.

"I played Han Ying not long ago. I knew the rhythm would be important because she's a chopper. I needed to dictate the pace of the match. She's a determined player so I prepared a lot for this match. She never gave up on any point," said Sun.

Her fellow Chinese Wang Manyu and Chen Meng partnered with each to start the match, and claimed a straight-set win over Shan Xiaona/Petrissa Solja, 11-9, 11-2, 11-4.

Chen Meng, the new women's singles champion crowned here at the Tokyo Olympic Games six days ago, played the third game with a slow start, committing lots of unforced errors in her first set losing 11-5, but managed to come back 11-4, 11-9, 13-11 to seal the victory for China.

"This is my second meeting with Solja. When I play her, our scores always seem to be very close," said Chen Meng after the game.

"To be able to win the crucial points in the third and fourth games and take the match down is affirmation for me. But the process has shown that I still need to address some issues, particularly minimising unforced errors," added the 27-year-old.

The Chinese will vie for a fourth straight Olympic top-podium finish against Japan on Thursday evening, after the local favorites made short work of their counterparts from Hong Kong, China to cruise into the final.

"It will be a tough match," said Li Sun, head coach of the Chinese women's team. "Technically speaking, we are quite close. May the braver and better performing team win the title."

"This clash is something we've been looking forward to for so long. We've finally got to this final. No matter where each of us are positioned (in the lineup), we have to fulfil our responsibilities in those positions and showcase our styles and skills," Chen said.

"Japan is a very strong team so we need to show our competitive and fighting spirit, unite as one," echoed Sun.