Olympics | China move into table tennis men's team quarterfinals

PARIS, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) -- Defending champions China swept past India 3-0 to advance to the table tennis men's team quarterfinals at the Paris 2024 on Tuesday, with five-time Olympic gold medalist Ma Long making his fourth Olympic appearance.

This is the first match at Paris 2024 for Ma, 35, a legendary figure in Chinese table tennis, with three team golds and two consecutive singles titles at Olympic Games.

In the doubles clash, Ma teamed with Wang Chuqin, who had earlier taken gold in the mixed doubles, partnering Sun Yingsha to beat India's Harmeet Desai and Manav Vikash Thakkar in straight sets 11-2, 11-3, 11-7.

In the second game, China's Fan Zhendong came back from one set down to rally past Sharath Kamal Achanta of India in four sets, 9-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-5.

Wang came up again in the third game and whitewashed Thakkar 11-9, 11-6, 11-9.

"I feel that I played quite well today," said Ma after the match. "This was my first match at Paris 2024 and I needed to quickly get into form because India's team is strong. I also wanted to use this first match to prepare for the upcoming ones."

Fan, who completed a career grand slam of Olympic, World Championship and World Cup titles by winning the men's singles two days ago, said he had made some unnecessary errors in Tuesday's match, adding that he needs to quickly find his rhythm and adjust to the team competitions.

China's male paddlers will play South Korea on Wednesday for a spot in the semifinals.

Also on Tuesday, Japan's men's team outclassed Chinese Taipei in the quarterfinals, advancing to the semifinals.

China's women's team will face Chinese Taipei on Wednesday in the quarterfinals.