Olympics-Table tennis-Wang and Sun win mixed doubles gold after China's Tokyo failure

By Krystal Hu

Paris (Reuters) -China's Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha beat North Korea's Ri Jong Sik and Kim Kum Yong 4-2 in the table tennis mixed doubles final at the Paris Games on Tuesday, the first step in what could be a Chinese gold medal sweep in the sport.

The victory also marks the first gold for Wang, 24, and Sun, 23, who attracted many travelling fans to cheer them on in France. It's also a moment of redemption for China's table tennis dream team, which have won 33 of the 38 golds since the event was introduced to the Summer Olympics in 1988, but missed out on the inaugural mixed doubles gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics.

"I think both sides performed exceptionally well in today's final. Facing the mixed doubles loss at the Tokyo Olympics and coming to this point, I am very grateful to everyone on our team over the past three years," said Sun.

North Korea's Ri Jong Sik and Kim Kum Yong took the silver as their country returned to the Olympics after not participating in Tokyo. Meanwhile, South Korean pair Lim Jonghoon and Shin Yubin beat Hong Kong's Wong Chun-ting and Doo Hoi Kem 4-0 to claim bronze.

Unknown to their rivals, Ri and Kim, both first-time Olympians, had few words to say about their journey from playing through the qualifiers all the way to securing a silver medal in the mixed doubles event.

"We prepared a lot for the Olympics. We had been in contact with the Chinese team, which is the world’s best. Of course it wasn’t enough at the end. We did have good performance but there are some regrets," said Kim.

China's world number one pairing Sun and Wang were on top from the start and took the first game 11-6 before the battling North Koreans claimed the second game 11-7. However, the Chinese then turned the screw and moved 3-1 ahead.

The North Koreans fought back again to make it 3-2 before the match reached a climax in the sixth game when they won an intense rally to make it 8-8. However, they eventually conceded game point, with China seizing the chance to win 11-8.

South Korea dominated the bronze medal match but in the fourth game, when they thought it would be an easy victory, the Hong Kong team showed their resilience, briefly taking the lead by one point, but ultimately falling short to lose it 14-12.

China's former great Deng Yaping, who won four Olympic gold medals, was in attendance to cheer on the Chinese team.

(Reporting by Krystal Hu, Editing by Ken Ferris and Hugh Lawson)