China's Xu upsets Japan's Harimoto at WTT Star Contender Bangkok

BANGKOK, April 26 (Xinhua) -- China's Xu Yingbin stunned Tomokazu Harimoto of Japan at the World Table Tennis (WTT) Championships Star Contender Bangkok 2023 here on Wednesday by defeating the top seed in a commanding manner.

The men's world No. 4 Harimoto entered the round of 32 automatically as the top seed and faced Xu for the first time. Coming from a difficult five-game victory in the first round, the 22-year-old Xu took the first game 12-10 before Harimoto tied the score 11-9.

Despite the huge discrepancy in the world ranking, the match turned lopsided as Xu, ranked No. 47, went on to win the match 12-10, 9-11, 11-6, 11-2.

The Chinese table tennis team swept through the matches on Wednesday, led by Liang Jingkun in the men's singles and Chen Xingtong in the women's singles but also joined by the younger players. Chinese pairs also made it to the semifinals of the men's doubles, women's doubles and mixed doubles.