Chinese paddlers take 3 berths in singles, doubles semis at World Table Tennis (WTT) Men’s Finals

DOHA: China booked three places in both singles and doubles semifinals at the 2023 World Table Tennis (WTT) Men’s Finals here on Thursday night.

In the singles quarterfinals, China’s world No. 1 Fan Zhendong breezed past Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna 11-6, 11-9, 11-4, Lin Gaoyuan edged compatriot Ma Long 11-4, 5-11, 11-9, 9-11, 11-5, and Wang Chuqin beat Japan’s Tomokazu Harimoto in straight sets.

Germany’s Qiu Dang, who had edged past China’s Lin Shidong in the round of 16, pulled off a narrow win again in the quarterfinal against China’s Liang Jingkun. Qiu won the thriller 2-11, 14-12, 6-11, 11-9, 11-6 and will meet Wang in the semifinals.

In the doubles quarterfinals, China’s pair of Fan and Wang secured a 3-1 win over Wong Chun Ting and Ho Kwan Kit of Hong Kong, China.

Elsewhere, Lin Gaoyuan and Lin Shidong also won 3-1 over Germany’s Dimitrij Ovtcharov and Patrick Franziska, Yuan Licen and Xiang Peng edged Japanese duo Yukiya Uda and Shunsuke Togami 3-2, and France’s Lebrun brothers Alexis and Felix eased past Singapore’s Pang Yew En Koen and Quek Izaac 3-0. IANS

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