World No. 1 Lin Shidong survives five-game tussle at WTT Champions

World No. 1 Lin Shidong of China edged An Jae-hyun of South Korea 3-2 in the men's singles round of 16 at the World Table Tennis (WTT) Champions in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality on Thursday.

The 21st-ranked An delivered an unexpected blow to Lin in the first game, claiming it 13-11 for a 1-0 overall lead. Lin adjusted his playing style and took two games in a row 11-2 and 11-6 to move in front in the match 2-1. But An soon tied the contest at 2-2 after clinching the fourth game 11-6.

That brought up a decider in which Lin built his advantage point by point with a steady performance, before sealing the deal 11-5. His opponent in the quarterfinals will be Lin Yun-ju of Chinese Taipei.

On the women's side, top-seeded home paddler Sun Yingsha beat Doo Hoi Kem of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) 11-5, 11-3, 11-6 to book her place in the last eight.

No. 5 seed Hina Hayata of Japan reached the quarterfinals as well, after defeating Bruna Takahashi of Brazil 11-6, 13-11, 11-9.