Wang Hao beaten by S. Korean Rye in table tennis final

South Korean Ryu Seung Min beat Chinese Wang Hao (11-3, 9-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-13 11-9) to win the men's table tennis singles gold medal at the Olympic Games in Athens on August 23.

Ryu denied China's clean sweep of table tennis golds in the Olympics.

China had swept the 1996 and 2000 Olympic golds and three titles in Athens.

Wang Liqin bags bronze in men's table tennis single

Sydney Olympics doubles champion Wang Liqin of China pushed aside Swedish veteran Jan-Ove Waldner for a bronze medal in the table tennis event on August 23 at the Athens Olympic Games.

The 26-year-old Wang, men's double winner in Sydney four years ago, dictated the match despite the first game loss before he beat Waldner, 13 years his senior, 4-1 (10-12, 11-3, 11-8, 11-7, 11-9).

1992 Barcelona Olympics singles champion Waldner looked anxious during the 24-minute match before he surrendered the victory to his Chinese rival with a missed service.

Waldner protested over the camera flashes from the standings when he was down at 0-3 in the third game but the brief interruption failed to affect Wang, who led to take the game 11-8.

Wang Hao beaten by S. Korean Rye in table tennis final

"Waldner is an experienced player who would use many tricks during the match, but I got over all of them,"said Wang.

Waldner will be back home without a medal, which was his goal at the Games after he was also shut outside the doubles semi- finals by Michael Maze and Finn Tugwell of Denmark on Thursday.

"It was not my day today. I was a little bit tired but both of us were," he said. "It would be fun to have won the bronze, but life goes on."