China’s world No. 1 and hot favorite Zhang Yining became the first player to reach the women’s singles fourth round at the world table tennis championships yesterday.
The Beijing Olympic gold medalist was in good form as she demolished Daniela Dodean of Romania to move a step closer to regaining the title she won in 2005.
She led a Chinese onslaught as Guo Yan, Li Xiaoxia, Guo Yue, Ding Ning and Liu Shiwen all advanced.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Guo Yan lost a game for the first time this week but still easily beat Park Young-sook of South Korea, while Li outclassed Elke Schall of Germany, again in five games.
Defending champion Guo Yue brushed aside Huang Yi-hua of Taiwan, while Ding defeated Wu Jiaduo of Germany and Liu saw off Japan’s Mikie Tasei.
Also joining the Chinese contingent in the fourth round is Krisztina Toth of Hungary, Yu Meng Yu of Singapore, Japan’s Kasumi Ishikawa and Czechs Renata Strbikova and Iveta Vacenovska.
Li Jiao of the Netherlands also made it through after a tough match against Sun Bei Bei of Singapore.
In the men’s singles, Chinese world No. 1 Wang Hao beat Thomas Keinath of Slovakia in the third round.
Three-time world champion Wang Liqin struggled to beat Adrien Mattenet of France, while Ma Long comfortably won against Zoran Primorac of Croatia.
Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen yesterday exited at the BWF World Tour Finals in China, losing in the semi-finals to China’s world No. 1 Shi Yuqi. Shi, who was named the BWF Men’s Singles Player of the Year, had a 9-4 record against Chou going into the match. He extended that record to 9-5 with a 21-14, 21-18 victory. Chou advanced to the men’s singles semi-finals on Friday by upsetting top-seeded Anders Antonsen of Denmark in a must-win match at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium. The 16-21, 21-18, 21-15 victory saw Chou secure his second semi-finals appearance at the tournament, despite his relatively older
‘REMARKABLE’: Gaelic football is a traditional Irish sport that blends the skills of soccer and rugby, and hurling is an ancient sport played with a wooden stick and ‘sliotar’ The Taiwan Celts Gaelic Football Club marked a milestone achievement at the Asian Gaelic Games in Bangkok on Nov. 23 and 24, with two sides advancing to the knockout stages and competing at hurling for the first time. The event brought together 68 teams from 16 clubs across Asia, with more than 800 players in men’s and women’s tournaments. Gaelic football is a traditional Irish team sport that blends the skills of soccer, rugby union and basketball. Hurling is an ancient Irish sport played with a wooden stick, called a hurley, and a small ball, or sliotar. The Taiwan Celts’ women’s team reached
LIVERPOOL WIN: The 50th Champions League goal by Mohamed Salah helped the leaders of the Premier League to keep their perfect record intact Real Madrid’s big stars on Tuesday turned on the style to revive the Spanish giant’s faltering UEFA Champions League title defense. Galacticos Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham all scored in a thrilling 3-2 win against Serie A leaders Atalanta BC. However, Madrid still had to ride their luck as Mateo Retegui fired over from in front of goal in stoppage-time when handed a golden chance to level the game. It was only Madrid’s third win in the competition’s revamped league phase and leaves the 15-time champions in the unseeded playoff positions in 18th place. “It’s a very important win. Not everyone wins
Indian teenager Gukesh Dommaraju became the youngest chess world champion on Thursday after beating the defending champion Ding Liren of China in the final match of their series in Singapore. Dommaraju, 18, secured 7.5 points against 6.5 of his Chinese rival in the contest, surpassing the achievement of Russia’s Garry Kasparov, who won the title at the age of 22. The Indian teen prodigy has long been considered a rising star in the chess world after he became a chess grandmaster at 12. He had entered the match as the youngest-ever challenger to the world crown after winning the Candidates tournament earlier
RSS