PRC reaches ITTF World Team Championships quarterfinal

World
Europe

02:03

In the World Team Table Tennis Championships, defending champions China faced Portugal as they were looking to improve to 4-0 and lock up the top spot in Group B. The path to victory would be made easier for fourth ranked Xu Xin and his teammates, as the Europeans were missing their best player, world number 15 Marcos Freitas.

Diogo Carvalho took on Xu in the first match, as the Portuguese elected to rest Freitas and Joao Monteiro, ahead of their pool play finale against the Czech Republic. Xu came up with some incredible defense as he tried to cope with Carvalho's smashes and worked his way back to the table in a fantastic rally that Xu finally took, en route to winning the first two games 11-9, 11-5.

Match point was not long after that, as world number four Xu claimed the third 11-4, sending China up 1-0 in the team tally.

Fan Zhendong met Joao Geraldo in the second contest, and the man from Portugal went right at the world number one as he won the first two games 11-8, 12-10 before China won the next two games 11-9, 12-10.

World Team Table Tennis Championships - Group A - China v Singapore - Halmstad Arena, Halmstad, Sweden - May 1, 2018 Manyu Wang of China in action against Tianwei Feng of Singapore. /TT News Agency/VCG Photo

On the women's side, four-time Asian Cup champion Liu Shiwen met Jennifer Jonsson in the opening encounter. The former world number one had no trouble and prevailed 11-7, 11-5, 11-4 to put China up 1-0.

Ding Ning was taking on world number 402 Filippa Bergand in the second. The 19-year-old Swede tried a chopping service several times, but it had little effect on Ding as the seven-time world champion blew by her in straight games to make it 2-0 China.

Two-time Asian Games champion Zhu Yuling battled Linda Bergstrom and also won in three straight games. The defending champions China closed out their schedule in Group A with a 3-0 win over the host country Sweden, as the PRC ladies sailed into quarter-finals after five consecutive victories.