BEIJING, Aug. 23: China’s Ma Lin won gold in the men’s singles table tennis tournament Saturday, defeating teammate Ma Lin to secure a clean sweep of all gold medals on offer to the host nation.

World number two Ma fought off world number one Wang in a scorching final strewn with fast and furious rallies to win 4-1 and cement China’s status as the superpower of the sport.

Ma pumped his arms in the air before burying his head in his towel and breaking into tears as the packed Chinese crowd, waving national flags, chanted his name.

Ma won the first two games before Wang came storming back in the third, only for the four-time World Cup winner to hold his nerve in the last two, winning 11-9, 11-9, 6-11, 11-7, 11-9 for his first gold in the event.

Mitcham spoils China dream: Australia’s Matthew Mitcham snatched gold from Chinese favorite Zhou Luxin on the final dive Saturday to win the men’s 10m platform title and deny China a sweep of all eight diving golds at the Beijing Games.

Mitcham trailed Zhou through the first five dives and was more than 30 points adrift prior to the final dive. But the world number three nailed a sublime back two-and-a-half somersault with two-and-a-half twists, with a 3.8 degree of difficulty, achieving four perfect 10s.

Zhou, perhaps feeling the weight of a nation’s expectations, fluffed his final dive, a reverse three-and-a-half somersault.

Frenchman, German climb to gold: Frenchman Julien Absalon took his mountain bike status to new heights on Saturday when he became the first rider to defend the men’s Olympic cross country title.

Absalon kept the gold in French hands for the third Olympics in a row - following Miguel Martinez’s victory at Sydney in 2000 - thanks to a commanding display early in the 36km race which left his big rivals trailing.

At only 28 years old, Absalon can afford to look positively towards London, however the French legend had only one thought on Saturday.

Absalon used the same race tactic from the gold winner in the women’s race - Germany’s Sabine Spitz - as he put his rivals to the sword with a solid start to the 36km race on a demanding 4.5km course.

A highly-fancied Swiss trio failed to match Absalon’s pace after he had begun to steadily grind out a lead by the second of eight laps.