Wang beats veteran Swede for China sweep in table tennis

By Simon Rabinovitch

BEIJING (Reuters) - China sealed a sweep of the Olympic medals in table tennis on Saturday when Wang Liqin beat Swedish veteran Jorgen Persson in a lopsided contest for the bronze.

The gold match, still being played, is between two Chinese players, Wang Hao and Ma Lin. The Chinese women took all three medals on Friday and both the men and women won team golds.

There had been a huge weight of expectations on Chinese players to deliver in their national sport and some wondered before the Games whether they would buckle under the pressure.

As in previous matches, the boisterous crowd proved much more of a help than a hindrance.

Wang Liqin, 30, the "big brother" of Chinese table tennis in his third Olympics, was sluggish at the start and the full-throated cheers carried him through a tense first game.

After Persson failed to convert a game point, the momentum swung heavily to Wang's side. He won 13-11 11-2 11-5 and 11-9.

His win ended Persson's improbable run at the Beijing Games. The 42-year-old, who has played in all six Summer Games since table tennis debuted as a sport in 1988, scraped into the last Olympic qualification spot after ending his retirement.

Persson equaled his previous best of fourth, his result in the 2000 Olympics. On that occasion, he lost in the semi-finals to Liu Guoliang, who sat courtside on Saturday as China coach.

Wang also won Olympic bronze in men's singles in 2004.

(Additional reporting by Chris Buckley)