"Do not try to do everything," advised Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. "Do one thing well." Jobs likely developed this philosophy as a young man studying Zen Buddhism in India. Ironically, the popularity of his iPhones has since fueled the prevalent practice of "multi-tasking," the very un-Zen state more aptly described by tech writer Linda Stone as "continuous partial attention." For table tennis players, there can be no distractions. While this can be couched in philosophical terms, it is perhaps best summarized by Cobra Kai sensei John Kreese in "The Karate Kid": "You lose concentration in a fight and you're dead meat." This is especially true at the highest levels of the sport, where we begin today's sport report. The Olympic table tennis schedule concluded with the men's team event. In the bronze medal match, the host nation Japan overcame South Korea, 3-1. This left only the gold medal match between China and Germany. The top-seeded Chinese team of (pictured, left to right) Fan Zhendong, Ma Long and Xu Xin faced a talented and experienced German squad. Since the team event was introduced in 2008, China and Germany have each medaled each time, with China claiming every gold medal. Germany's veterans Timo Boll and Dimitrij Ovtcharov have played for each squad, and were joined this time by their younger compatriot Patrick Franziska. In the opening doubles match, Xu and Ma made quick work of Boll and Franziska, 3-0. "I struck a really good partnership with Ma Long," said Xu, a left-handed penholder and doubles specialist. "We trusted each other and got the job done." In the second match, men's singles silver medalist Fan Zhendong had his hands full with Dimitrij Ovtcharov, the bronze medalist in the same discipline. Ovtcharov led, 2-1, before Fan rallied to win the deciding fifth game. With China leading 2-0 in the best-of-five contest, it fell upon Timo Boll to prolong German hopes. Across the table stood two-time men's singles gold medalist Ma Long, looking to once again play the hero for China. With Ma leading 2-0, Boll staved off multiple match points in game three before winning, 13-11. Game four, however, saw little drama as Ma delivered the gold medal, 11-7. With the win, Ma Long became the most decorated Olympian of all time with five gold medals. "As professional athletes," he reflected, "we have only got one job to do and that is to win." And that one thing, Steve Jobs would approvingly note, China does exceedingly well.

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