China storms to ITTF quarters; so too do SAR's women
China romped to both women's and men's quarterfinals with straight-set victories on Wednesday, while the Hong Kong, China women also made it to the last-eight at the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals. China will face hosts South Korea in the women's quarterfinals, while setting up a clash with Japan at the same stage in the men's category. In the round-of-16 duel against Thailand, Chen Meng held a firm grip of her opener against Suthasini Sawettabut, emerging victorious 11-3, 11-5, 11-0 to put China in a commanding position. Stepping on the court next, Sun Yingsha underwent a bitter test in her first game against Jinnipa Sawettabut, while pocketing the final three points to win 11-8. The top-ranked paddler improved her form afterward, winning the next two games 11-6, 11-5. Wang Yidi gained the upper hand in her spectacular rallies with Orawan Paranang, and the world No. 2 triumphed 11-9, 11-7, 11-5 to put the game to bed. Doo Hoi-Kem gave Hong Kong, China a 1-nil lead in their last 16 matchup against Poland, before Zhu Chengzhu narrowly lost out to Natalia Bajor – levelling the tie at 1-all. Lee Ho-ching restored the territory's advantage with a sweeping 3-0 win – making it 2-1 overall – and Doo returned to the court with an emphatic 3-0 victory of her own to send the SAR into a last-eight tieagainst Chinese Taipei. Japan, who reached the past four editions of the event's final, sailed through its first knockout match in dominant fashion, defeating Croatia 3-0. Other women's quarterfinalists are France, Romania, Germany, Chinese Taipei and South Korea. On the men's side, China met little resistance to dispatch Romania in three sets. Ovidiu Ionescu built an early lead and was one point away from his opening game win at 10-7, but Wang Chuqin showed his tenacity, notching five points in a row to turn the tide. The world No. 2 was unstoppable from there, triumphing 11-1, 11-4 to launch China's winning campaign. Tomokazu Harimoto, Hiroto Shinozuka and Sora Matsushima combined to help Japan post a 3-0 victory over Austria and book an encounter with reigning champions China. Group winners South Korea, France, Portugal and Germany also reached the men's last eight, while Chinese Taipei and Denmark upset their respective opponents, Sweden and Slovenia, in full sets. Earlier on Wednesday, Hong Kong, China suffered a heartbroken 3-2 loss to Austria in the men's team round of 32 as Lam Siu Hang also fell in full games to Andreas Levenko in the decisive matchup. (Xinhua)