Team China bag gold and silver in table tennis women's singles

Team China's Chen Meng (L) and Sun Yingsha celebrate after women's table tennis singles final at the Tokyo Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, July 29, 2021. /CFP

Chen Meng won the gold medal for Team China in the table tennis women's singles final at the Tokyo Olympics on Thursday, defeating Sun Yingsha 4-2.

"My time has finally come. I've waited so long for today," said Chen during a post-match interview.

Chen, 27, defeated teammate Sun, who is seven years younger than her, 9-11, 11-6, 11-4, 5-11, 11-4, 11-9 in the final.

The youngster was more audacious in the opening set, while Chen came back from one set down to build a 2-1 lead, when Sun wasn't going to give up and tied the match at 2-2. Chen capitalized on her counter-attacks, and took the fifth set. The match was tied 6-6 in the final set, but Chen took the victory after several errors by Sun at a crucial point.

The men's table tennis singles final will also be contested by two Chinese players, defending champion Ma Long and current world No. 1 Fan Zhendong, on July 30.