World No. 1 Wang Hao and No. 3 Ma Long, both from China, entered the semifinals of the 29th table tennis Liebherr Men's World Cup in Liege, Belgium, on Saturday.

Defending champion Wang achieved victory by 4-1 (12-10, 11-7, 6-11, 11-6, 11-8) against Germany' s Dimitrij Ovtcharov, the 14th seed.

Ma Long beat Austria's Werner Schlager also at 4-1 (11-4, 9-11, 16-14, 11-3, 11-7).

Both South Korea's top players Ryu Seung Min and Joo Se Hyuk were eliminated by Germany's Timo Boll at 4-0 and Greece's Kalinikos Kreanga at 4-2 respectively.

The World Cup is the first event for table tennis that speed glue is not allowed.

(Xinhua News Agency September 28, 2008)