Chinese women outclass Austrians to book semifinal berth

World
Europe

01:21

In the ITTF World Team Championships in Sweden, the Chinese women’s table tennis team crushed Austria 3-0 to set up a semifinal clash against Hong Kong.

In the quarterfinals, China was up against an Austria side, which reached this stage by beating Germany in the round of 16. On the other hand, due to their perfect record in the group stage, defending champions China advanced straight to the last eight and were expected to cruise into the semis at the expense of the Europeans, even without the help of Rio Olympics champion Ding Ning.

World No. 10 Liu Shiwen faced Sofia Polcanova, and Liu comfortably won the match Liu 11-1, 11-3, 11-4 for a 3-0 victory, helping China go up 1-0. Then, world no. 1 Chen Meng took on the world no. 188 Amelie Solja. It was a cakewalk for the Chinese stalwart as she wrapped up the match 11-8, 11-8, 11-6 to make it 2-0 China.

China’s Wang Manyu in action at the World Team Table Tennis Championships. /VCG Photo

“It was the first time I've played against Polcanova. She won two matches against Germany yesterday and was in good form, but I won easier than I had expected. As a European player, her speed is maybe slower than mine and could not handle my way of playing the game,” said Liu after her emphatic victory in the first match.

Next up was 19-year-old and world no. 5 Wang Manyu who registered a superb win against Karoline Mischek to complete a 3-0 rout over the Europeans.

The tournament favorites will face Hongkong in the semifinal later on Friday.