Olympic Table Tennis 2016: Women's Singles Medal Winners, Scores and Results

In an all-China affair, Ning Ding took home the 2016 Summer Olympic Games' women's table tennis singles gold medal after defeating Xiaoxia Li four games to three on Wednesday night. 

Here are the final results, scores and medal winners:

Player	Result	Player
Medal	Player	Country
Kim Song-I	4-1 (11-7, 11-7, 11-5, 12-14, 11-5)	Ai Fukuhara
Ning Ding	4-3 (11-9, 5-11, 14-12, 9-11, 8-11, 11-7, 11-7)	Xiaoxia Li
Gold	Ning Ding	China
Silver	Xiaoxia Li	China
Bronze	Kim Song I	North Korea

In Olympic table tennis, matches consist of games to 11 points in a win-by-two format. Whoever is the first player to win four games in the best-of-seven series wins the match.

This was a rematch of the 2012 London Games gold-medal match as well, with Ding also coming out on top in five games.

Early on, it didn't look like Ding would need that many as she jumped out to an 8-1 first-game lead. Her powerful left-handed shot was so difficult to track because she began it under the table, which shielded Li from seeing which way her paddle was directed and what kind of spin she wanted to put on it. 

Li was able to bring it to within one on a 7-1 run, but it wasn't enough as Ding closed out the first game, 11-9.

Because these were two such evenly matched opponents, points were fast-paced and over quickly. Li found a response with nine straight points in the second game on her way to an 11-5 win.

Ding answered right back, getting off to an 8-5 lead before Li fought back to force extra points. But Ding was finally able to overpower her in the third game, 14-12. 

Li though was able to do plenty of damage with her quick forehand that she managed to put plenty of spin on. It made it difficult for Ding to get under the ball, effecting her accuracy. 

In the next two games, Li jumped out to 5-1 leads as she took control of the match. She closed out the fourth game, 11-9, after a comeback from Ding and then took the fifth game, 11-8.

But Ding put her rough stretch aside and hit another level, sweeping the last two games by a score of 11-7 to win her second straight gold medal.

The bronze-medal match, played before Ding and Li, was won by Kim Song I of North Korea, who celebrated her 22nd birthday with an impressive victory over Japan's Ai Fukuhara in five games.  

The two conflicting styles of play exhibited by Fukuhara and Kim made for an entertaining match as both players' strengths were highlighted. 

Fukuhara was the more aggressive player, bringing a heavy offensive game led by a ferocious forehand. Kim, on the other hand, played a defensive brand of table tennis, absorbing the pressure from her opponent and capitalizing on mistakes. 

Like the old adage of defense winning games, Kim was the one who was able to control the match. Fukuhara was throwing everything at the North Korean, but Kim was able to quickly turn from defense to offense as soon as Japan's hope made even the slightest mistake. 

It quickly frustrated Fukuhara, who was unable to build any kind of momentum as she dropped the first three games quickly. She managed to pull out a win in game No. 5 after five chances at game point after jumping out to a 10-8 lead. 

But Kim came out and shut Fukuhara down in the fifth game, winning 11-5.

Stats courtesy of Rio2016.com.