Page 5 - Rio 2016: Table Tennis - A list of all the Olympic singles gold medal winners (Men)

2004 Athens Olympics – Ryu Seung Min

One of the most explosive attacking players of all time, Ryu Seung Min’s gold medal at the Olympics was a slight surprise as he claimed the top prize over the fancied Chinese duo of Wang Liqin and Wang Hao.

Another player who excelled with the pen-hold style of play, Ryu Seung Min became the second South Korean to claim the gold medal when he overcame Wang Hao in a keenly contested final.

The South Korean’s brilliant forehand topspins caught Wang Hao off guard in the finals and his attacking display is still remembered fondly by fans all over the world. Ryu Seung Min’s style of play meant he did not use the backhand at all, choosing not to even have a backhand rubber.

A player who attacked at every opportunity, Ryu Seung Min’s victory is the last time a player broke the Chinese domination in the Olympics.

This brilliant video below shows the legendary Korean reminiscing about his Olympics final match against Wang Hao:

About the author

A Bengaluru lad through and through, Ashwin Hanagudu is a huge fan of Liverpool and unsurprisingly pledges his sworn allegiance to RCB in the IPL. With over 8+ years of experience in this field, Ashwin manages multiple verticals at Sportskeeda and as of July 2024 is the most-read author in the football section.

Apart from his duties at Sportskeeda, Ashwin Hanagudu is also an active table tennis player and has played multiple state ranking and national tournaments representing Karnataka.

A huge sports fan, some of the athletes and sportspersons he admires in no particular order are Virat Kohli, Steven Gerrard, Mohamed Salah, Cristiano Ronaldo, Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Neeraj Chopra and PV Sindhu

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Edited by Staff Editor