Although he knew that regardless of the outcome of the men's singles table tennis gold medal match, China would retain both the Olympic gold and silver medals for the third consecutive Olympics, don't think Ma Long was going to settle for a silver medal.
Facing #2 seed and defending gold medalist Jike Zhang, Long won his second match of the day and claimed the gold medal for China, while Zhang, who looked helpless in losing four straight games against Long, took the silver after Long defeated his compatriot 14-12, 11-5, 11-4, 11-4.
Long edges Zhang in thrilling game 1
In a match that was supposed to be thrilling and down-to-the-wire, it was only Game 1 that lived up to that billing. Zhang jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but lost six of the next eight points to trail 8-4. The defending gold medalist, who edged out Long for a spot on the Chinese singles table tennis players delegation in 2012, ripped off five straight points to retake the lead, 9-8.
Long tied the game, sending the game into a back and forth tussle in which both players wasted game points. Zhang led long 11-10 and 12-11, but he could not secure the second and most critical point to take the first game. Long ultimately triumphed 14-12, not wasting his game point opportunity after going up 13-12.
A key factor to game 1 was Zhang's struggles on his own serve. In what turned out to be a sign for things to come, Zhang one three of thirteen points on his serve in Game 1. Over the rest of the match, Zhang won just four of twenty points, bringing his record to 7-29 on his own serve. That horrendous mark wouldn't have gotten him through the quarterfinals, let alone a gold medal match.
Long sends demoralized Zhang to three defeats in quick succession
Rather than bounce back from a tough defeat in Game 1, Zhang appeared to curl up in a ball and let an energized Long have his way the rest of the match. A 5-0 run by Long early in Game 2 broke open an initally close game and opened up a 7-3 lead for the top seed. Long would cruise to a 10-4 lead, giving him room for error as he looked to wrap up Game 2. Zhang saved one of six game points, but Long wasn't flustered, easily winning the second game point to secure a victory.
Game 3 was more of the same, as Zhang used a run to break open a tight game. Zhang competed well for the first nine points, after which he trailed just 5-4. However, he would watch helplessly as the superior Long drove Zhang to the brink of elimination with six straight points and a stunning finish to Game 3.
Zhang didn't even look competitive in Game 4, as he never took the lead against Long. Long would take the early 2-0 lead and maintain that advantage, the lead eventually sitting at 5-3. He broke off a mini 3-0 run to pull away for an 8-3 advantage. At that point, the question seemed to be not if Long would win the gold medal, but how quickly would it happen. Zhang closed the gap to 8-4 with a single point, but Long quickly scored the next two, giving him six points of wiggle room to secure the gold medal.
He needed only one.
Long took a gift that was a hanging shot from Zhang and simply smashed it past his compatriot, much too fast for Zhang to handle, setting off a raucous and emotional celebration.
Nope. Long definitely wasn't going to settle for silver.