(BEIJING, August 22) -- The third Table Tennis gold medal match of the tournament was contested Friday at the Peking University Gymnasium. Zhang Yining of China won gold in the Women's Singles competition over her teammate Wang Nan. China has claimed all three medals in Women's Singles at Beijing 2008, with Guo Yue winning bronze. It is China's second medal sweep in Women's Singles; their first was at the Seoul 1988 Olympic Games.

　　Zhang has participated in four Olympic events (two Singles and two Team) and won the gold medal on every occasion. Wang, despite losing to Zhang in the final, is the most successful Table Tennis player in Olympic history, with four gold medals and one silver.

　　Now all eyes are on the Chinese trio of Wang Hao, Ma Lin and Wang Liqin to see if they can continue China's triumph at the Peking University Gymnasium in Saturday's Men's Singles competition.

　　The three top-seeded players have duly booked their places in the semifinals with outstanding performances.

　　It was the player who joins the illustrious trio in the penultimate stage, however, that attracted the most attention.

　　Jorgen Persson of Sweden beat Zoran Primorac of Croatia in a contest between the two oldest European-born players in the tournament. Persson is 42 years old, Primorac is three years younger.

　　Persson retired from international Table Tennis in 2005 but returned two years later, motivated by the possibility of competing in the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

　　The Men's Singles world champion in 1991, Persson, despite competing in all six Olympic Games when Table Tennis has been staged, has never won an Olympic medal. The closest he got was at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, when he lost to Liu Guoliang of China in the bronze medal contest.

　　Wang Hao defeated a spirited Ko Lai-chak of Hong Kong; Wang Liqin overwhelmed surprise quarterfinalist Tan Ruiwu of Croatia; and Ma Lin proved too fast for the man against whom he had experienced problems in the Men's Team event, Oh Sang-eun of the Republic of Korea.