World No.1 Fan Zhendong defeated Lin Yun-Ju of Chinese Taipei 4-2 in the quarterfinals at the ITTF Men's World Cup in Weihai, China, on Saturday, while his compatriot Ma Long also advanced to semifinals after beating German Dimitrij Ovtcharov 4-1.
Fan, three-time winner of the World Cup, came from behind to win the first set 12-10, but the fifth seed elevated his offensive quality to pull it level at 11-9.
After Fan won the following two sets 11-2, 11-5, Lin triumphed 11-7 in the fifth set.
The defending champion didn't give any more opportunities for Lin to fight back and dispatched him 11-5.
"Lin is a powerful opponent and I had expected the difficulties of this match. After the match was tied 1-1, I played more actively and confidently to win," said Fan.
Ma managed to grab an 11-9 win in the opening set which saw the lead seesaw.
The Grand Slam winner claimed the following two sets 11-4, 11-7, before Ovtcharov bounced back to win the fourth set 11-7. Ma regrouped himself and established a 5-0 lead in the fifth set, nailing the victory at 11-5.
"After a six-set match this morning, I got quickly into the quarterfinals and became more focused," said Ma.
Chinese paddlers' main rival Tomokazu Harimoto from Japan won over Swedish Mattias Falck 11-9, 11-8, 11-9, 4-11, 11-9, setting up a duel with Ma in the semifinals.
Jang Woo-jin from South Korea will challenge Fan in the semifinals, as Jang came out the winner of the last quarterfinals by overcoming his teammate Jeoung Young-sik, 15-13, 11-9, 2-11, 11-6, 7-11, 11-6.
Starting from the group matches, Jeoung and Jang upset the fourth seed Hugo Calderano of Brazil and seed No. 8 Koki Niwa of Japan respectively in the round of 16.
Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)