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by Trudy Harris
BEIJING, Aug 22, 2008 (AFP) - China's world number one Zhang Yining won back-to-back Olympic Games table tennis golds Friday, defeating teammate 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 number one Wang Hao in the semifinals on Saturday.
Zhang, who has been the world number one for most of the last six years, had the upper hand heading into Friday's contest, winning 15 of their 25 showdowns.
But Wang showed why she is the most decorated paddler in the history of the sport, with more than 20 world titles, winning the first game convincingly, before Zhang edged her out in the second to level the match 1-1.
Zhang held her nerve to nudge ahead in the third, before mistakes started to creep into the veteran's game in the fourth, allowing Zhang, growing in confidence, to steam ahead, winning the next two.
Teammate Guo Yue won bronze in a playoff, defeating Singapore's Li Jia Wei who was in tears at failing to clinch Singapore's second medal at these Games.
Earlier Friday, Zhang beat former classmate and Beijing teammate 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.
But Li said she knew her chances were slim, having played Zhang 21 times before in major matches, and losing on every occasion.
Wang earlier defeated 20-year-old Guo in a tightly fought contest 4-2, in a match pitching the old generation against the new.
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