Decoding table tennis star Chen Meng's dominance at the Olympics
Women's singles table tennis star Chen Meng bagged successive gold medals at the Olympics. Chinese paddler and second seed Chen was on the podium, winning the gold on August 3, beating fellow Chinese and top seed Sun Yingsha at the 2024 Paris Olympics. The 30-year-old Chen won the gold at 2020 Tokyo Olympics as well. Here we decode her dominance.
Chen's journey at 2024 Paris Olympics
Chen beat Algeria's Lynda Loghraibi 4-0 in round of 64 (11-2, 11-4, 11-5, 11-2). In R32, Chen outsmarted Sweden's Linda Bergström 4-1 (8-11, 11-4, 11-7, 11-9, 11-8). In R16, Chen overcame Netherlands' Britt Eerland 4-1 (8-11, 11-5, 11-6, 11-4, 11-8). Chen hammered Austria's Sofia Polcanova 4-0 next (11-5, 11-3, 11-0, 11-8). In the semis, Chen thrashed South Korea's Shin Yu-bin (11-7, 11-6, 11-7, 11-7).
Chen defeats Sun Yingsha 4-2 in the final
It was a thrilling finale between Chen and Sun. The latter dismissed Chen 11-4 in the opening game. Chen fought back thereafter, winning 11-7 and 11-4. Sun took the next game 11-9 to make it 2-2. Chen sealed the deal thereafter, winning 11-9 and 11-6.
Third female tennis player to make this record
Chen, who is ranked fourth in the world, felt the win over world No. 1 Sun was a surprise. She became the third female table tennis player to win gold medals in singles at two consecutive Olympics.
Chen beat Sun to win gold at the Tokyo Olympics
At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Chen bagged the gold medal. She had beaten Sun in the final. Number one seed Chen won the thrilling finale by a 4-2 margin. She lost the first game 9-11 before winning the next two games 11-6 and 11-4. Sun made it 2-2 by winning 11-5. Chen won 11-4 and 11-9 to seal the contest.
Her journey in 2020 Tokyo
Chen started her 2020 Tokyo Games journey by playing her first game in the round of 32. Chen beat Switzerland's Rachael Moret 4-0. She beat Canada's Mo Zhang in R16, winning 4-1. In the quarters, she fought from being 2-0 down to win 4-2 versus Hong Kong's Doo Hoi Kem. In the semis, Chen downed Singapore's Yu Mengyu 4-0 (11-6, 11-8, 11-7, 11-6).
Chen won gold in women's team event (Tokyo Olympics 2020)
In the women's team event, Chen, along with Sun and Wang Manyu, China defeated Japan 3-0 in the final to win the gold medal. China beat Austria, Singapore, Germany and Japan. Notably, the Chinese team won all its matches by a 3-0 margin.
