Doubles, Men

Wang Liqin and Yan Sen had won the 2000 gold medal and the World Championships in 2001 and 2003. But they were not chosen for the Chinese team in Athina. Chinese depth in table tennis was such that they were barely missed. In their absence the top seeds were Chen Qi and Ma Lin. They made it to the final easily where they met the Hong Kong pair of Ko Lai-Chak and Li Ching, who had emigrated from China in 2000. The final went to six games, with Chen and Ma winning easily in the sixth game, 11-5. The Hong Kong medal was only the second ever at the Olympics for that nation. The bronze medal went to the Danish pair of Michael Maze and Finn Tugwell, the only non-Asian medal in table tennis at the 2004 Olympics. The second Chinese team, Kong Linghui and Wang Hao, were surprisingly eliminated in the round of 16 by the Swedish team of Jan-Ove Waldner and Jörgen Persson.