China advances on two fronts; HK women make semis
China advanced to the final four in both men's and women's team events, while the women's semifinalists have been confirmed at the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals on Thursday. In the women's event, South Korea changed its order of play for the tie against China, with eighth-ranked Shin Yu-bin put in the No. 3 position for the first time in the Busan tournament. China's Sun Yingsha showed no mercy to Lee Zi-on in the opener, bagging eight points in a row en route an 11-1 win in the first game. Sun was too strong for the home player to check, as the top-ranked paddler fully unleashed her attacking firepower and prevailed 11-5, 11-1 to move the reigning champions in front. Facing South Korea's No. 1 player Jeon Ji-hee, who had not dropped any of her six previous sets prior to Thursday's action, Chen Meng put the pressure on in the first game for an 11-5 win. Jeon cut the deficit to 6-7 in the second game, but Chen pulled away to trimph 11-7. The Olympic champion then rallied from 5-8 down to win 11-9 in the third game to increase China's advantage. South Korea's hope of a comeback all hinged on Shin, but world No. 2 Wang Yidi halted any chance of that, completing the job by winning 11-5, 11-3 in the first two games and saving one game point for a 12-10 victory in the third. Also on Thursday, France overcame Germany 3-2. Chinese Taipei and Hong Kong, China went toe-to-toe into a decisive matchup, before Hong Kong, China emerged as the winners. Chinese Taipei came back from behind twice to force a deciding set, while team effort paid dividends for Hong Kong, China, whose three players Doo Hoi Kem, Lee Ho Ching and Zhu Chengzhu accumulated one point apiece for the win. Japan, the runners-up in the past four editions, dispatched Romania in straight sets. China will meet France in Friday's semifinal, while Japan takes on Hong Kong, China. As opposed to its nail-biting 3-2 win in the men's team semifinal two years ago in Chengdu, China notched a straight-set victory over Japan this time round. China is awaiting the winner between South Korea and Denmark on Friday to contend for a final spot. France also secured its passage to the semifinals in Busan courtesy of a 3-1 win against Portugal. World No. 6 Felix Lebrun became the star of the show, helping France restore parity with a straight-game win against Tiago Apolonia and close out the win by accounting for Marcos Freitas 3-1. France's semifinal opponent will be decided between Germany and Chinese Taipei. (Xinhua)