"My socks and shoes always match," observed singer/bassist Les Claypool of Primus. He would go on to cite numerous results of dedicated effort, punctuating each with the rhetorical question, "Is it luck?" Claypool seemed to be defending himself against insinuations that his success was the result of chance. Thirty years later, three young women making their Olympic debuts won the table tennis teams event. While so-called beginner's luck may seem to favor wide-eyed neophytes in games of chance, it plays a negligible role at best in a game of physics requiring a lifetime of dedicated effort to master. The disciplined devotees under discussion are herein pictured from left to right: Wang Manyu, coach Li Sun, Chen Meng and Sun Yingsha. In the final, they defeated the host nation of Japan, 3-0. In other action, Hong Kong defeated Germany for the bronze. Wang Manyu, a late P-card substitution for the injured Liu Shiwen, was certainly ready when they called her number. Teamed with Chen, they dropped the opening game in doubles against Kasumi Ishikawa and Miu Hirano before recovering to score the first point for China, 3-1. In the second frame, Sun repeated her semifinal success in singles against Mima Ito. Up 2-0, Wang secured gold with a sweep of Miu Hirano. "The first match was very important, and it was important for us to win to settle the nerves," reflected Wang. "The Japanese put up a very good fight, and it was something that we expected from them. After winning the opening match, we were very relieved and felt more confident. My teammates believed in me and gave me lots of encouragement. I’m very grateful for their support." Fresh off winning the women's singles gold medal in her Olympic debut, world #1 Chen Meng could only marvel at her embarrassment of riches. "To wear this gold medal again," gleamed Chen, "this happiness feels different from before... This is a different feeling as it’s a team effort, and the three of us all played our part in winning the gold medal," Chen continued before thanking the team behind the team which helped them achieve their dream. Sun Yingsha, for her part, gave an Oscar-worthy speech. "This gold medal goes out to everyone who has supported me, the team, coaches, fans and everyone who has played a big role in my development, especially my family," beamed Sun. "This is also our gift to China." At the end of the day, to the surprise of no one, the team of Chen, Sun and Wang maintained China's unblemished record in the discipline. Since the debut of teams events in Beijing 2008, the Chinese women have not only won every gold medal, but emerged from each matchup 3-0, their cumulative match record an astonishingly perfect (and perfectly astonishing) 51-0. Is it luck?