China added to its already prodigious medal haul in the Table Tennis events at the Beijing 2008 Paralympics Games on the penultimate day of action in the Peking University Gymnasium.
They clinched gold medals in Women's Team Classes 6/10 and Women's Team Classes 1/3, whilst in Men's Team Class 3 they secured bronze. Furthermore, they gave themselves more than an outside chance of adding more gold medals to their tally on the final day of the tournament.
At the semifinal stage of Women's Team Classes 4/5 and Men's Team Classes 9/10, they emerged successful.
The Chinese rose to the occasion, no more so than in the final of the Women's Team Classes 6/10 event and no more so than in the guise of Fan Lei.
She inflicted the one and only Singles defeat on Poland's Natalia Partyka, the Women's Individual Class 10 gold medalist. China won by three matches to one, the one Polish success coming in the opening encounter with Partyka defeating Lei Lina (China).
A three matches to one score line in the final of Women's Team Classes 9/10 and the same in the final of Women's Team Classes 1/3, where Italy suffered at the hands of the host nation. An unbeaten display by Li Qian proved the backbone of Chinese success with the one Italian win coming from Michela Brunelli against Liu Jing (China).
The bronze medal in both Women's Team Classes 6/10 and Women's Team Classes 1/3 went to France.
Two golds for China and bronze at the expense of Great Britain with Feng Panfeng (China) unbeaten in the three-one win over Great Britain, the one British success coming from James Rawson (Great Britain) over Zhao Ping (China).
Meanwhile at the semifinal stage of Women's Team Classes 4/5 and Men's Team Classes 9/10; China impressed.
In the former they beat Jordan by three matches to one with Ren Guixiang unbeaten, whilst in the latter it was a three-nil win for Ma Lin and Ge Yang over the French pairing of Gilles de la Bourdonnaye and Jeremy Rousseau.
The sole winner for Jordan in the Women's contest was Khetam Abuawad. In the opening duel she defeated Gu Gai of China.
Impressive performances were given by China and also by Slovakia, the Republic of Korea and Austria - the three all in the unforgiving mood.
Slovakia's Jan Riapos and Rastislav Revucky won gold in the Men's Team Class 1/3 event beating the French pairing of Stephane Molliens and Vincent Boury by three matches to nil, while in the bronze medal duel it was the same score line.
The Republic of Korea showed Austria no favors with Kim Kong-yong and Kim Kyung-mook beating Andreas Vevera and Hans Ruep without the loss of a single match.
A three-nil defeat for France in the final of Men's Team Classes 1/2 but in the bronze medal duel in Women's Team Classes 1/3, the boot was on the other foot.
The French duo of Isabelle Lafaye-Marziou and Fanny Bertrand, with Stephanie Mariage playing with partner Lafaye-Marziou in the Doubles, showed no 'Entente Cordiale' against the Great Britain duo of Cathy Mitton and Dzaier Neil and a three-nil win was the concluding verdict.
(BOCOG September 16, 2008)