China clean the table

Zhang Yining of China defeated teammate Wang Nan to win the gold medal in women's singles table tennis, completing a medals sweep for the host team.

China clinched all three medals in the event earlier in the evening after Guo Yue beat Li Jia Wei of Singapore to win the bronze.

China has always been dominant in its national sport of table tennis. But it has swept all three medals only once before, in the women's singles event at the 1988 Seoul Games.

The gold medal match was a showdown between two of the best athletes in table tennis – Zhang was playing for her fourth Olympic gold medal and Wang was competing for her fifth.

The score was frequently tied and Wang controlled the game at first. But Zhang stayed cool and gradually took over her fifth-ranked opponent, winning 8-11, 13-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-3.

A medals sweep is also possible in the men's singles event, after the Chinese rolled over their competition in the quarterfinals to set up another semifinal round with only one foreign athlete.

"It's the Great Wall," said the lone non-Chinese to advance, Jorgen Persson of Sweden.