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Chinese on Boll's side as German beats Wong to reach quarters

Xinhua, May 1, 2015 Adjust font size:

Timo Boll, one of the biggest draws at the world table tennis championships, advanced into the men's singles quarter-finals on Friday.

Chinese spectators were on Boll's side, cheering for every point won by the seventh-seeded German, who struggled but beat Hong Kong penholder Wong Chun Ting 11-9, 11-8, 3-11, 12-10, 14-12.

Boll joined teammate Patrick Franziska in last eight, who advanced by beating Ukraine's Kou Lei, 7-11, 8-11, 11-8, 11-6, 11-9, 11-8.

Germany's top player, Dimitrij Ovtcharov, had been stunned in the second round.

The men's action saw world No. 2 ranked Xu Xin stunned by fellow Chinese Fang Bo, world youth champion.

Fang, who jumped to fame as he swept four titles in the 2009 youth worlds, nailed a seven-set (10-12, 7-11, 11-8, 11-2, 8-11, 11-9, 13-11) victory over left-handed Xu, who has been troubled with a muscle strain in the left shoulder.

Xu picked up the injury Thursday night as he paired with South Korean Yang Hae-un to reach the mixed doubles final.

Xu asked for an injury break while trailing 1-4 in the deciding set and returned to tie 10-10, 11-11 before the 23-year-old teammate took the game.

Earlier, the world top-ranked Ma Long played an aggressive topspin game to beat the best defensive player in the world.

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 singles 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 jaded Joo, wrapping up in five sets.

Ma will vie for a semifinal spot with Hong Kong player Tang Peng, who South Korea's Lee Sang-su in five sets (1-11, 11-7, 11-8, 14-12, 11-9). Enditem