Ma gold leads China clean sweep

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Video - Ma takes table tennis gold

China's Ma Lin claimed gold in the men's table tennis as the host country took all three medals to set the seal on their domination of the sport.

Ma beat team-mate and world number one Wang Hao in a top-class final, eventually coming through to win 11-9 11-9 6-11 11-7 11-9.

And China's Wang Liqin defeated Sweden's Jorgen Persson for bronze.

It underlined China's complete mastery of the sport, with the women's team also sealing a clean sweep of medals.

Head coach Liu Guoliang said: "Because of the hard effort of the women's and men's teams these past few days, you can see only one coloured national flag rising up to the roof of the gymnasium, that is the miracle we have created."

Both the men's and women's teams took gold for China in their respective team events, making it the first time a country has won every single medal available to it in Olympic table tennis.

But China's stranglehold on the elite level of the sport is becoming a real issue for the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF).

"In general, it is a very big concern," said ITTF chief Adnam Sharara.

"We do not want to limit Chinese participation, but we need other nations to grow to challenge them."