To the list that places death and taxes as the only sure things in life, add the Chinese men's table tennis team claiming gold at the Olympic Games. On Friday at the South Paris Arena, Long Ma, Chuqin Wang and Zhengdong Fan kept hold of the prize their illustrious predecessors first acquired in Beijing in 2008 when the event was introduced.
Their fifth straight title came courtesy of a 3-0 victory over Sweden in front of predominantly Chinese fans in the arena.
But even the triumphant Chinese troika conceded they had been given a scare.
"The Swedish team was very strong," said Ma, who will retire from Olympic competition after the Games in Paris.
"We took note when they beat Germany in the quarter-finals and then eliminated Japan in the semis," added the 35-year-old.
Success
There was other evidence too. Truls Moregard had battled with Fan in the final of the men's singles competition.
"The entire Swedish team has strong abiltiies," added Ma."Each of the games finished 3-2. We need to respect them alot."
High praise from a man acknowledged as one of the greatest players to have graced the sport.
The doubles started off the encounter just after 3pm.
Ma and Wang took on the Swedish duo of Anton Kallberg and Kristian Karlsson.
Surge
To the chagrin of the Chinese assembled, the Swedes had the impertinence to win the first game 11-4.
To their delight, the Chinese pair surged into a 6-0 lead in the second game and wrapped it up 11-4.
And just to prove the six-point rush was no fluke, they went on an eight-point streak in the third game to waltz through that 11-3.
Some Swedish resistance came at the start of the fourth game and the Scandanavians clinched it 11-6.
But the Chinese took the decider. And it was the same scenario in the rematch between Fan and Moregard.
Karlsson had the task of keeping his side in the contest against the world number one Wang.
Change
While the first game was tight at 11-9, Wang romped through the second game 11-5.
In the third Karlsson opened up a 7-3 lead but Wang came back and held a championship point at 10-9 but Karlsson saved it and took the game 12-10.
"I was standing there at one point trailing by two games to the world number one," Karlsson told RFI.
"It's a difficult situation, of course, but I told myself that I had beaten him once before."
Karlsson took the fourth game also by 12-10.
But the effort left him diminished. From 4-2 up in the decider, Wang ripped through to 10-2 and team gold medal number five.
Pressure
"China has never been that pressured in this tournament," said Karlsson. "So I think we should be super proud with our performance.
"Especially against that kind of a team," he added. "If you just look at those three guys, it feels like surrealistic that they should be allowed to be in a team together. It's just hats off to them."
The medal presentation ceremony was a din. The handful of France supporters mustered a few lusty rounds of "Allez les Bleus" for Felix Lebrun, his brother, Alexis, and Simon Gauzy who beat Japan 3-2 to collect the bronze medal for France.
"The French have a young team," said Sweden's head coach Jörgen Persson, a former Sweden international player.
"Sweden's team is also young and we took the silver. So I hope Europe can challenge the Chinese with these two strong countries."
