Chinese paddlers won all matches of day four at the ongoing WTT Saudi Smash on Tuesday, after four franchise players suffered shock early exits in the singles contention a day ago, including Olympic champion Ma Long.

Three Chinese players reached the women's singles round of 16 on Tuesday. World No. 1 Sun Yingsha eased past Serbian Isabela Lupulesku 11-3, 11-4, 11-6 to set up her next match with South Korean Jeon Ji-hee. Chen Xingtong progressed against Chien Tung-Chuan of Team Chinese Taipei 11-9, 11-9, 11-8. And Qian Tianyi advanced against Austrian Sofia Polcanova 11-7, 13-11, 11-7, and will contest Chen in an all-Chinese quarterfinal match. 

On the men's side, Fan Zhendong showcased his skill with a convincing 11-9, 11-4, 11-4 victory over South Korea's An Jae-hyun, and is scheduled to next face German Patrick Franziska who downed Spain's Alvaro Robles in straight games.

In the men's doubles, top-seeded Ma Long recovered from his defeat in the singles second round and dispatched local duo Ali Alkhadrawi and Abdulaziz Bu Shulaybi together with teammate Wang Chuqin in a comfortable 3-0 win. They will face the international pair of Jakub Dyjas of Poland and Cedric Nuytinck of Belgium in the quarterfinals.

In women's doubles, top-seeded Chen Meng and Wang Manyu breezed past Romanian pair Elisabeta Samara and Andrea Dragoman 3-0, setting up an all-Chinese showdown against Wang Yidi and Chen Xingtong, who also won their match in straight games over Thai duo Orawan Paranang and Suthasini Sawettabut.

In the mixed doubles, top-seeded Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha defeated Indian pair Sreeja Akula and Harmeet Desai 3-0 to set up a potentially tough semifinal clash against Japan's third-seeded Tomokazu Harimoto and Hina Hayata.

(With input from Xinhua)

(Cover: Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha in action during the WTT Saudi Smash mixed doubles quarter-final round in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, May 7, 2024. /CFP)