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Chinese stars cruise on at table tennis worlds

Xinhua, April 30, 2015

• Men's singles world number one Ma Long from China was not really troubled in beating Frenchman Emmanuel Lebesson in five games in the second round of the World Table Tennis Championships on Wednesday.

  Ma Long competes against Frenchman Emmanuel Lebesson during the Men's Singles match at the Qoros 2015 World Table Tennis Championships in Suzhou, city of east China's Jiangsu Province, on April 29, 2015. Ma Long won the match 4-1. [Xinhua]

  Ma's compatriot and defending champion Zhang Jike won 4-0 against Seo Hyundeok of South Korea and now plays another Chinese Liang Jingkun in the most exciting match in the next round.

  "I'm satisfied with my performance and I have used my coach's tactics well. My opponent defeated me once in 2011 so I was well prepared this time in tactics. I studied his routine, played accordingly and it worked," said Zhang after the match.

  "I mainly focused on myself. After all I'm better than him."

  China's Fan Zhendong, Xu Xin, and Fang Bo also advanced into the third round.

  The main upset in men's singles came from sixth seeded German No. 1 Dimitrij Ovtcharov, who was defeated by Lee Sangsu of South Korea.

  Ovtcharov said: "He played very strongly from both sides. If I knew that he would start so well, maybe I would take more risks in the beginning, but he surprised me a little bit with that."

  In women's singles, China's world number one Ding Ning eased past Poland's Natalia Partyka for the third round.

  Partyka, born without a right hand and forearm, participates in competitions for able-bodied athletes as well as in competitions for athletes with disabilities.

  "I've played against her at the end of 2012 or at the beginning of 2013. When I first met with her, I was not feeling at ease. But now, I will not focus on her body, but on remembering the strategy and her changes," Ding said after the comfortable 4-0 win.

  Ding's compatriot Wu Yang beat Barbora Balazova of Slovakia 4-0 to also move on. She looks likely to reach the quarterfinals, where she will have to beat Ding if she wants to achieve her best world championships result - she was knocked out from singles quarterfinals in both 2011 and 2013.

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