China’s Feng Panfeng claimed the men’s singles table tennis class 3 gold medal for the third Paralympic Games in a row ©ITTF/Facebook

China’s Feng Panfeng claimed the men’s singles table tennis class 3 gold medal for the third Paralympic Games in a row after beating Germany’s Thomas Schmidberger in the Rio 2016 final here this evening.

The 26-year-old triumphed 11-5, 7-11, 11-9, 11-8 to secure the same title he won at Beijing 2008 and London 2012.  

"It’s been four years since London; many things have changed, including my opponents, so I’m trying to find the feeling of playing in the Paralympics," said Feng.

"After winning the previous two Paralympic Games, it puts on more pressure on me, especially with adapting to the venue, lighting and the change of the ball.

"There were times where I started to doubt myself."

There was further disappointment for Germany in the bronze medal contest as Thomas Bruchle was beaten by Frenchman Florian Merrien 14-12, 7-11, 11-8, 11-13, 11-5.

Emulating Feng’s achievement was compatriot Liu Jing, who overcame South Korea’s Seo Su-Yeon in the final of the women’s singles class 1-2 event.

Liu registered an 11-6, 9-11, 12-10, 19-17 victory to add to the gold medals she won at Beijing 2008 and London 2012.

Italy’s Giada Rossi defeated Thailand’s Chilchitparyak Bootwansirina 12-10, 11-0, 11-9 to take the bronze medal.

Ukraine's Natalia Kosmina won gold in the women's singles class 11 ©ITTF/Richard Kalocsai
Ukraine's Natalia Kosmina won gold in the women's singles class 11 ©ITTF/Richard Kalocsai

Backed by strong Danish support, Peter Rosenmeier recovered from a 2-1 deficit in the men’s singles class 6 final to beat Spain’s Alvaro Valera Munoz Vargas 5-11, 12-10, 6-11, 11-9, 11-6 and reclaim the Paralympic crown he won at Beijing 2008.

London 2012 champion Rungroj Thainiyom of Thailand eased to an 11-4, 11-4, 11-4 success against South Korea’s Park Hong-Kyu in the bronze medal match.

Sixteen-year-old Laurens Devos of Belgium became the youngest-ever men’s singles gold medallist after comfortably defeating The Netherlands’ Gerben Last 11-8, 11-7, 11-4 in the class 9 final.

The youngest overall is Poland’s Natalia Partyka, who was 15 years and two months when she won the women’s singles class 10 competition at Athens 2004.

Success in the bronze medal match went the way of Italy’s Mohamed Amine Kalem as he overcame Spain’s Juan Bautista Perez Gonzalez 11-7, 11-8, 11-6.

The one other winner today was Ukraine’s Natalia Kosmina after she outdid Poland’s Krystyna Siemieniecka 11-7, 11-6, 11-5 in the women’s singles class 11 final.

An all-Hong Kong bronze medal contest was won by Ng Mui Wui, beating London 2012 champion Wong Ka Man 15-13, 16-14, 11-8.