China sweep women's singles semifinal berths at Asian Table Tennis Championships
CGTN

Chinese had a clean sweep of women's singles semifinal berths at the the Asian Table Tennis Championships (ATTC) as former world No. 1 Ding Ning ousted defending champion Miu Hirano 3-0 in the quarterfinals on Friday night.

The victory was payback for Ding who lost to Hirano in the 2017 Asian championships held in Wuxi, China, where the Japanese teenager eventually won the women's singles title after defeating China's Chen Meng in the final.

Ding, a three-time world champion and Rio Olympic gold medalist, was given a bit of a challenge in the second game but managed to pack winning scores of 11-8, 13-11, 11-4 over Hirano in Among Raga Sports Hall.

The 29-year-old, who played three knockout rounds in a row on Friday, will next take on her compatriot Sun Yingsha on Saturday, who beat Wang Manyu 3-0 in the quarterfinals.

China's Xu Xin in action during the Asian Table Tennis Championships in Indonesia, September 20, 2019. /VCG Photo

China's Xu Xin in action during the Asian Table Tennis Championships in Indonesia, September 20, 2019. /VCG Photo

The other semifinal encounters will pit top-seeded Chinese Chen Meng and reigning world champion Liu Shiwen after Chen trashed Singapore player Feng Tianwei 3-0 and Liu ousted Japan's Kasumi Ishikawa on the same score.

On men's side, Japan's teenage sensation Tomokazu Haromoto has set up a semifinal encounter with world No. 1 Xu Xin.

The 16-year-old No. 4 seed beat South Korea's Jeoung Young-sik 3-0 on Friday evening, while Xu overpowered another South Korean player Lee Sang-su, also in three straight sets.

In the other half of the men's singles draw, China's Lin Gaoyuan denied a late comeback from Sathiyan Granasekaran and defeated the Indian 3-1 to reach the semis against his compatriot Fan Zhendong, who eased past another Chinese youngster Wang Chuqin 3-0 to earn a semifinal berth.

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency