Off the wire
• Commentary: Abe's speech in U.S. Congress disappoints Asian neighbors again  • Indian market remains closed on public holiday  • New Zealand government deficit to be wider than forecast  • Police investigate "slapping therapy" death in Sydney  • Women's singles results at table tennis worlds  • 1st LD Writethru: Jobless rate in Japan improves as companies' profits recover  • No. 2 Liu into table tennis last eight  • Tokyo shares end lower by break  • China unveils measures to shore up job market  • Death toll soars to 6,204 in Nepal earthquake  
You are here: 　 Home

Ma Long into men's quarters

Xinhua, May 1, 2015 Adjust font size:

The world top-ranked table tennis player Ma Long played an aggressive topspin game to beat the world's best defensive player in the world championships on Friday.

The 26-year-old Chinese, who needs a world singles title to prove his ranking, beat 17th-ranked South Korean Joo Sae-hyuk, 11-4, 11-3, 11-9, 10-12, 11-6.

Ma, 2012 World Cup winner, has been notoriously under-achieving in Olympics and world championships, overshadowed by teammate Zhang Jike, who has completed a "grand slam" of Olympics, world championships and World Cup titles.

Zhang, aiming for his third straight world singles crown in Suzhou, takes on Belarus veteran Vladimir Samosonov in the afternoon for a quarter-final berth.

Joo, who plays a chop-and-attack game, had trouble in responding to firepower from Ma and lost the first two sets easily.

As he put more spin to his chops and distracted his rival with counter-attacks, Joo narrowly lost the third set and won the fourth.

Using powerful forehand attacks coupled with placement shots, Ma didn't give a chance to an already jade Joo, wrapping up the game in four sets. Enditem