Individual - Class 2 champion Riapos won both of his singles matches to secure victory, following an impressive opening-match win from team-mate Rastislav Revucky, as Slovakia successfully defended the title they won at Beijing 2008.

The Republic of Korea took bronze after beating Austria 3-0.

Riapos, the 43-year-old Slovakian Paralympic Committee chairman who has now appeared at the Games five times, said: ‘Each Paralympic cycle means four years of very hard work, a very hard job.

‘For me it was also very difficult because, maybe, I am the only chairman of the Paralympic Committee who is also competing. So it was very difficult to put everything together, in terms of my sporting career and also my official career.’

For me it was also very difficult because, maybe, I am the only chairman of the Paralympic Committee who is also competing.

Jan Riapos

Of the four gold medals on offer in Table Tennis on Day 9, China topped the podium in two of the events.

In the men’s Team - Class 3, the Chinese eventually overcame Germany 3-2 in a tight battle for gold, with Feng Panfeng the star performer.

The Individual - Class 3 champion won both of his singles matches and was then the dominant player for China in the deciding doubles clash as he went on to win his second gold of London 2012.

He said: ‘We knew it would be a very hard match before we started. Germany are a very strong team.’

Defending champions France had to settle for bronze after beating the Republic of Korea 3-1.

China’s other gold medal came in the women’s Team - Class 1-3 as they successfully retained the title they won on home soil at Beijing 2008 by beating the Republic of Korea 3-0.

Li Qian won both her singles matches, while Liu Jing, the Individual - Class 1-2 champion, made it two golds at the Games by winning a five-set thriller in the first match for China.

In the showdown for Class 1-3 bronze, Great Britain’s Sara Head and Jane Campbell battled back from losing the first two games to Italy to level at 2-2, before coming back from 2-1 down in the deciding doubles match to win in five sets and claim bronze.

Poland won the other gold on offer as Spain were unable to repeat their heroics from a day earlier in the men’s Team - Class 6-8 final.

Led by two wins in the singles from 20-year-old Piotr Grudzien, world champions Poland won gold after a 3-0 win against the Spanish, who had shocked defending Paralympic champions China in the quarter-finals.

In the battle for bronze, Great Britain’s Will Bayley beat Jochen Wollmert in a repeat of the Individual - Class 7 final, which had been won by the German. Along with two singles victories for 17-year-old Ross Wilson, there was enough to see the Host Nation finish third.

Elsewhere, there were wins for Poland and China in the semi-finals of the men’s Team - Class 9-10 event, while the final of the women’s Class 4-5 will be between Sweden and China following their victories today.