The nation's table tennis player Chen Meng on Saturday put herself in the record books with an emphatic 4-2 victory against compatriot Sun Yingsha in Paris, becoming the third person to defend an Olympic women's singles crown.

The all-China matchup was a repeat of the Tokyo Games, when Chen also defeated Sun by the same margin.

This year's final was an intense affair, with top-seed Sun starting off well – winning the first game 11-4 – before second-seeded Chen won the next two, 11-7, 11-4.

Determined not to go down 1-3, Sun scored five straight points in game four to break a 5-5 tie and eventually wrapped up the game 11-9 to tie the score at two games apiece.

In the pivotal game five, the score was tied multiple times, with Chen eventually breaking the deadlock at 9-9 to win 11-9.

She went on to take the final game 11-6 to seal the win, following in the footsteps of ping pong greats Deng Yaping and Zhang Yining, who had successfully defended their Olympic singles titles.

Since the sport was introduced to the Olympics in 1988, China has won all 10 gold medals in the women's singles.