Table tennis ace Ding Ning spearheaded China's challenge at the ongoing ITTF Qatar Open as three Chinese players progressed to the women's semifinals in Doha on Saturday.

Former junior world champion Wang Manyu beat world No. 7 Zhu Yuling 4-2 to set up an all-Chinese semifinal with current world No. 1 Chen Meng, who overcame another Chinese Wang Yidi 4-1 in the quarterfinals. 

The other semifinal pits Olympic and world champion Ding Ning and Japanese sensation Ito Mima, after Ding eased past younger teammate Chen Xingtong 4-0 and Ito showed the door to Singapore star Feng Tianwei with a 4-2 win.

Japanese duo Ishikawa Kasumi and Hirano Miu both fell in the round of 16 as the former lost to Yidi and Hirano was beaten by Ding. China's Youth Olympic champion Sun Yingsha failed to reach the quarterfinals, too, losing 4-0 to Chen Xingtong.

Meanwhile, on the men's side, reigning Olympic and world champion Ma Long suffered an early exit on Friday, after losing 4-3 to fellow Chinese Wang Chuqin in the men's singles second round.

The 31-year-old Grand Slam winner of table tennis met some real challenges from the beginning. He led 2-1, 3-2 on sets, and was stretched into full sets before losing 13-15, 14-12, 4-11, 11-8, 3-11, 13-11, 11-6 to the 19-year-old Wang.

(With input from Xinhua)