China nears sweep in table tennis

China neared a second consecutive Olympic sweep of the table tennis gold medals Tuesday with a victory in the women's team event. The Chinese won all three of their matches against Japan in the finals, getting victories from Li Xiaoxia and Ding Ning in the singles and from Li and Guo Yue in the doubles. Japan's silver medal was its first in table tennis since the sport was introduced into the Olympics in 1988. Singapore defeated South Korea 3-0 for the bronze medal. It was the second medal for Singapore at these Olympics. China will take on South Korea for the bronze medal in the men's team event on Wednesday and a victory there would give the Chinese all four gold medals available in the sport. The Chinese went four for four in Beijing and had eight medals overall.