China wins all but one gold in history of women's singles at table tennis Grand

(BEIJING, December 10) -- China's table tennis team has managed good results at the 11 ITTF Pro Tour Grand Finals since 1996, claiming 35 of the 44 gold medals. At six Finals, the Chinese team won all four gold medals.

In the women's singles events, the Chinese women have taken 10 of the 11 championship titles, losing only one to Chen Jing of Chinese Taipei. Zhang Yining has taken the Women's Singles championship title four times and got two consecutive gold medals in 2005 and 2006.

Let's have a review of the results of the Women's Singles competitions in the past games.

The 1996 Finals were staged in Tianjin, where Deng Yaping became the first champion of the Women's Singles competition. The Chinese athletes topped all four competitions.

The 1997 Finals were held in Hong Kong, China. China's Li Ju won the gold medal and also claimed the Women's Doubles championship title with Wang Nan.

The 1998 Finals were staged in Paris. China took all the four gold and silver medals, showing great advantage. Wang Nan got the Women's Singles championship title and joined Li Ju again to top the Women's Doubles competition.

The 1999 Finals were held in Sydney, where the Chinese team grabbed three gold medals. Chen Jing from Chinese Taipei defeated China's Wang Nan and Li Ju to win the Women's Singles championship title.

The 2000 Finals were held in Yokohama, Japan. Once again, the Chinese team claimed all four gold medals, with Zhang Yining prevailing in Women's Singles.

The 2001 Finals returned to Tianjin, and Wang Nan beat her teammate Niu Jianfeng to step out as the champion in Women's Singles.

The 2002 Finals were staged in Stockholm, Sweden, where Zhang Yining got the Women's Singles championship title yet again.

The 2003 Finals were in Guangzhou, China. The final of Women's Singles competition was between China's Niu Jianfeng and Zhang Yining. Niu downed Zhang narrowly 4-3.

The 2004 Finals were staged in Beijing. The Chinese team took all four gold and silver medals again. Guo Yue of China beat her teammate Niu Jianfeng to top the Women's Singles competition.

The 2005 Finals were in Fuzhou, China. Zhang Yining claimed the Women's Singles championship title for the third time by defeating Li Jiawei of Singapore. This was the only gold medal earned by the Chinese team in that game.

China rose again in the 2006 Finals, which were staged in Hong Kong, China. China reclaimed all the championship titles in that competition. And Zhang Yining achieved her fourth championship title in Women's Singles.

The 2007 ITTF Pro Tour Grand Finals will start on December 13, 2007 at the newly built Peking University Gymnasium -- the competition venue for Table Tennis at next year's Olympic Games.

This will be a good opportunity for players to test the field before the Olympic Games. We expect the Chinese team to claim all four gold medals again and Zhang to achieve her third consecutive championship title.