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Fukuraha's table tennis worlds journey ends with quarterfinal defeat

Xinhua, April 30, 2015 Adjust font size:

The No. 1 seeded team of Ai Fukuhara and Misako Wakamiya of Japan fell to Chinese favorites Ding Ning and Li Xiaoxia 4-0 in the quarterfinals of the women's doubles at the Qoros 2015 World Table Tennis Championships in Suzhou on Thursday.

Ding and Li have been untouchable in the tournament thus far and their run of success continued as they used their superior power and consistency to end Japan's best remaining hope at collecting a trophy in a women's event.

After the shock second-round singles loss, Fukuhara's tournament has now come to a disappointing end. With the new wave of Japanese players rising behind her, this may have been her last opportunity to win world championships honors.

"I am unsatisfied with my performance in this championships. But since there are so many strong players, it is too difficult for me to win a match," Fukuraha said.

Ding and Li will be facing up to Li Jie of the Netherlands and Li Qian of Poland in the semifinals.

The other side of the draw looks to be more interesting as Feng Tianwei and Yu Mengyu of Singapore have booked a semifinal against Liu Shiwen and Zhu Yuling from China. Endi