Ding's opponents savour their defeats

World No. 1 Ding Ning of China is leaving a trail of crushing defeats at the 2015 World Table Tennis Championships in Suzhou.

She beat Olufunke Oshonaike of Nigeria in the first round with a 4-0 score, followed up this victory with dominant 4-0 matches against Natalia Partyka of Poland and Miu Hirano from Japan in the second and third rounds. Her victory over Irene Ivancan of Germany in the fourth round also ended in 4-0.

Ding's unrivaled skills have left her opponents speechless.

"It's not even the speed. It's not even the balls. It's like she's just putting more spin in the balls than I have ever seen," Ivancan said.

"You're playing against somebody who is not just No. 1 in the world, but someone who is really two or three levels better than you."

It was only in the third and fourth sets that Ivancan started to get used to playing at the same level as her powerful opponent. She never played with Ding before and her last match against a Chinese player was a year ago.

The experience at the World Table Tennis Championships left Ivancan yearning for more practice times with top level players, like Ding.

"I'm sad because I would like to have more chances to face her at the same level, but I don't have the ability," Ivancan said. "I would like to play more often these kinds of players. It's fun and I can enjoy it."

Nigeria's Oshonaike had the additional benefit of facing Ding on her birthday. Already anticipating the unfavorable outcome, she cherished the "wonderful gift" presented to her through the draw.

"When I saw (the draw) I thought why should it be me? On my birthday! But something came to my mind. It's all good. I'm going to be playing against the number one Chinese champion on my birthday," Oshonaike said.

"I have nothing, absolutely nothing to lose because everybody knows (the outcome) and it is a very, very wonderful opportunity for me to play against her." Endi