China overcame early fear to reach the men’s and women’s semifinals at the Asian Table Tennis C’ships – Xinhua

ASTANA, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) — China overcame defeats by its top paddlers in the opening matches to reach the men’s and women’s semifinals at the Asian Table Tennis Championships on Tuesday.

Since the Chinese players arrived in Astana just a day before their first matches after the World Table Tennis (WTT) China Smash, they had little time to prepare for the tournament.

In the men’s quarterfinals, China overcame Wang Chuqin’s surprise opening defeat to defeat Iran 3-1.

The first Chinese paddler out of the gate, world No. 1 Wang suffered a grueling 11-8, 3-11, 9-11, 13-11, 11-9 defeat to 14-year-old Benyamin Faraji, who is ranked 209th, places below him in the world rankings.

Wang said the loss had more to do with his own problems. “I conceded too many unforced errors and didn’t get into the rhythm of the game well. Since I had a big lead in the fourth game, I was not careful with the ball,” he reflected.

Riding on the wave of his good form in recent tournaments, Lin Shidong helped China restore parity, including through five exciting games, ultimately triumphing 13-11, 11-13, 18-16, 5-11, 11-6 Noshad Alamiyan.

“He [Alamiyan] showed some characteristics in his serve and backhand. Today I was more determined and won this match,” explained 19-year-old Lin.

After Liang Jingkun defeated Mohammad Mousavi Taher in consecutive games, Wang earned redemption with a 3-1 win over Alamiyan to secure the defending champions’ place in the semi-finals.

“The fourth game was crucial for our team. I couldn’t lose another point, so I was fully focused on the game,” Wang noted.

On Thursday, China will now face South Korea, who defeated Japan 3-1.

China faced a similar scenario in the women’s team quarterfinal against Korea DPR, where top seed Sun Yingsha lost the opening game 3-1 to Kim Kum Yong, who won the Paris Olympics by reaching the mixed doubles final for had caused a stir.

After Wang Yidi and Shi

China will face Hong Kong and China on Wednesday, while the other semi-final pits Japan against India, who beat South Korea 3-2 over the distance.

The 27th Asian Table Tennis Championships will take place from Monday to Sunday in Astana, Kazakhstan and will include a total of seven competitions, namely men’s and women’s teams, singles and doubles competitions and the mixed doubles competition.

As an Asian qualifier for the 2025 Table Tennis World Championships in Doha, Qatar, there will also be some qualification quotas for the World Championships. ■