China trounced Germany 3-0 to win the gold medal in the first Olympic men's team table tennis event today.
The men's victory followed the Chinese women's success a day earlier, the first two of the four-gold sweep that China are targeting in their national sport.
Unlike the women, who were briefly thrown off their game by the pressure of playing at home, the men revelled in the raucous atmosphere and the outcome never appeared in doubt. China lost only two games along the way.
"This is the first time that the team event has been included in the Olympics and we were really happy to claim the first one for China," said world number one Wang Hao. "We really prepared a long time and gave up a lot waiting for this final today."
With the top four players in the world all Chinese, the team competition had long been expected to be an anointment for China, leaving the rest of the world to fight for silver.
"We have a proverb in Germany, 'the final must be won'. We tried to put that in our mind before the final," said the German coach Richard Prouse.
"We tried everything to find out the weak point of the Chinese players. It was difficult to find them. On the other hand, they found some weak points in the German team," he said.
Wang pounced on Germany's Dimitrij Ovtcharov from his first serve, claiming the opening game in less than four minutes. His rasping topspin pushed Ovtcharov further and further off the table. Wang won 11-4 11-8 and 11-7.
Germany's top player Timo Boll managed to wrest a game off Ma Lin in the second match. Ma looked more energised than rattled by the German's stand and, playing just off the baseline, harried Boll into mistakes, taking the match 11-7 8-11 11-4 and 11-7.
Boll won another game in the doubles, partnered by Christian Suss, the lowest-ranked player in the contest by some distance at 40th in the world.
Their opponents, Wang Hao and Wang Liqin, responded by layering smash on top of smash to win three straight games and the contest.
"We are really happy. This (silver) is at this moment the maximum that you can reach in the team event because China is too dominant. They are the best team in the world," said Ovtcharov.
Struggling Ryu Seung-min discovered his form in time to lead South Korea to the Olympic bronze with a 3-1 win over Austria.
* Reuters
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Khalid Essa (Al Ain), Ali Khaseif (Al Jazira), Adel Al Hosani (Sharjah), Mahmoud Khamis (Al Nasr), Yousef Jaber (Shabab Al Ahli Dubai), Khalifa Al Hammadi (Jazira), Salem Rashid (Jazira), Shaheen Abdelrahman (Sharjah), Faris Juma (Al Wahda), Mohammed Shaker (Al Ain), Mohammed Barghash (Wahda), Abdulaziz Haikal (Shabab Al Ahli), Ahmed Barman (Al Ain), Khamis Esmail (Wahda), Khaled Bawazir (Sharjah), Majed Surour (Sharjah), Abdullah Ramadan (Jazira), Mohammed Al Attas (Jazira), Fabio De Lima (Al Wasl), Bandar Al Ahbabi (Al Ain), Khalfan Mubarak (Jazira), Habib Fardan (Nasr), Khalil Ibrahim (Wahda), Ali Mabkhout (Jazira), Ali Saleh (Wasl), Caio (Al Ain), Sebastian Tagliabue (Nasr).
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Investment raised: $4 million
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UAE jiu-jitsu squad
Men: Hamad Nawad and Khalid Al Balushi (56kg), Omar Al Fadhli and Saeed Al Mazroui (62kg), Taleb Al Kirbi and Humaid Al Kaabi (69kg), Mohammed Al Qubaisi and Saud Al Hammadi (70kg), Khalfan Belhol and Mohammad Haitham Radhi (85kg), Faisal Al Ketbi and Zayed Al Kaabi (94kg)
Women: Wadima Al Yafei and Mahra Al Hanaei (49kg), Bashayer Al Matrooshi and Hessa Al Shamsi (62kg)
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Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
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Ashes 2019 schedule
August 1-5: First Test, Edgbaston
August 14-18: Second Test, Lord's
August 22-26: Third Test, Headingley
September 4-8: Fourth Test, Old Trafford
September 12-16: Fifth Test, Oval
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Results
5pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 1,400m; Winner: Faiza, Sandro Paiva (jockey), Ali Rashid Al Raihe (trainer).
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Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
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Zimbabwe v UAE, ODI series
All matches at the Harare Sports Club:
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2nd ODI, Friday, April 12
3rd ODI, Sunday, April 14
4th ODI, Tuesday, April 16
UAE squad: Mohammed Naveed (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Shaiman Anwar, Mohammed Usman, CP Rizwan, Chirag Suri, Mohammed Boota, Ghulam Shabber, Sultan Ahmed, Imran Haider, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed