China overcome early scare to reach men's, women's semis at Asian Table Tennis C'ships

ASTANA, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) -- China withstood their top-ranked paddlers' defeats in the opening matches to advance to the men's and women's semifinals at the Asian Table Tennis Championships on Tuesday.

Arriving in Astana only one day ahead of their first matches following the World Table Tennis (WTT) China Smash, the Chinese players had limited time to adjust and prepare for the tournament.

In the men's quarterfinals, China had overcome Wang Chuqin's shocking defeat at the start to dispatch Iran 3-1.

As the first Chinese paddler out of the gate, world No. 1 Wang conceded a grueling 11-8, 3-11, 9-11, 13-11, 11-9 loss to 14-year-old Benyamin Faraji, who sits 209 places below him in the world rankings.

Wang said the loss was more about his own problems. "I conceded too many unforced errors and didn't get into the rhythm of the match well. With a big advantage in the fourth game, I didn't deal with the ball cautiously," he reflected.

Riding the wave of his favorable form in recent tournaments, Lin Shidong helped China restore parity, also through five exhilarating games, ultimately triumphing 13-11, 11-13, 18-16, 5-11, 11-6 over Noshad Alamiyan.

"He [Alamiyan] showed some characteristics in his serve and backhand. Today I was more resolute, so I won this match," explained the 19-year-old Lin.

After Liang Jingkun swept past Mohammad Mousavi Taher in straight games, Wang secured redemption with a 3-1 victory over Alamiyan to secure the defending champions' spot in the semifinals.

"The fourth match was crucial for our team. I could not lose another point, so I was fully focused on the match," Wang noted.

China will now take on South Korea, who eliminated Japan 3-1, on Thursday.

China faced a similar scenario in the women's team quarterfinals against DPR Korea, where top-ranked Sun Yingsha conceded the opening match 1-3 to Kim Kum Yong, who had caused a stir during the Paris Olympics by reaching the mixed doubles final.

After Wang Yidi and Shi Xunyao turned it around for China with wins over their respective opponents, Sun stepped on the court again, prevailing in full games over Pyon Song Gyong to seal the deal.

China will face Hong Kong, China on Wednesday, while the other semifinal pits Japan against India, who went the full distance to upset South Korea 3-2.

The 27th Asian Table Tennis Championships run from Monday to Sunday in Astana, Kazakhstan, featuring a total of seven events, namely men's and women's teams, singles and doubles events, and the mixed doubles event.

As the Asian qualifiers for the 2025 World Table Tennis Championships in Doha, Qatar, it will also produce some qualification quotas for the worlds.