Veteran Ma Long, youngster Zhou Qihao advance at WTT China Smash

Chinese veteran Ma Long battled past teammate Zeng Beixun to reach the third round of the WTT China Smash on Wednesday. 

The six-time Olympic champion won the second round by 11-8, 11-6, 6-11, 12-10 to set up his next match with South Korea's Lee Sang-su. 

Facing one of China's most decorated Olympians, the 21-year-old Zeng led early 5-1 in the first game, only to be reversed by Ma with a 11-8 win. Ma went on to take the second 11-6, but Zeng put up a fight to take the third also with 11-6. Ma stepped up his game in the fourth to claim victory, yet he praised his younger rival for a decent performance as a qualifier. 

"This is the first time for us to meet at a major event. I scored the decisive points to seal the victory," said Ma. "Zeng made great progress recently. I am really delighted to see more talents growing to keep the overall strength of Chinese table tennis at a high level."

Also on Wednesday, China's Zhou Qihao won an epic battle against Germany's Dimitrij Ovtcharov in five games. 

With a 3-0 record against the former world number one, Zhou won their fourth encounter 9-11, 10-12, 11-5, 15-13, 11-4.

The German veteran started well by taking the first frame. He led 6-3 in the second, and continued with the margin at 8-5, before Zhou won four points in a row to go 9-8 ahead. The veteran showed his experience in key moment to level at 9-9 and went on to lead overall 2-0 with a 12-10 victory in the second frame.

The Chinese then made a 7-1 run in the third, and held to win his first set in the match. 

The two exchanged leads in the fourth to tie at 13-13, but Zhou gained the upper hand to hold off Ovtcharov winning the frame 15-13, before he stormed to victory with a 11-4 victory in the decider. Zhou will meet teammate Liang Jingkun in the next match.