Off the wire
• Gold down on stronger U.S. dollar  • Namibian boxer arrested for alleged sexual harassment at Rio Games  • Burundian traders decry ban on food export to Rwanda  • China's Ye Shiwen heads for 200m individual medley semifinals  • Polar cod affected by small quantities of oil spill: research  • Hoeness to run for Bayern presidency  • U.S. dollar rises against most major currencies  • Jordan condemns terrorist attack in Pakistan's Quetta city  • Italy's highest court green-lights referendum on constitutional reform  • Azerbaijan, Russia, Iran join hands to combat terrorism  
You are here: 　 Home

4 Chinese players through to last 16 in Olympic table tennis singles

Xinhua, August 9, 2016 Adjust font size:

All four Chinese paddlers progressed through to the round of last 16 in the men's and women's singles with straight-set victories at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games on Monday.

The second seeded Zhang Jike, well known for his slow start, opened the defence of his title Monday with a 11-5, 13-11, 12-10, 11-7 victory over Chinese Taipei's Chen Chien-An, who beat Zhang in the first round of the South Korea Open in June.

"This is a special place and I'm more eager to win the Olympic title again," said Zhang, a multi-world championship and World Cup titlist.

"Actually, the pressure of playing at the Olympics is as much for me as for my opponents," he added. "I think everybody here is super eager to win, so I have to be serious since every point counts."

Zhang will face Romania's Adrian Crisan later on Monday evening after the latter rallied past South Korea's 12th seed Lee Sangsu 9-11, 13-11, 5-11, 10-12, 12-10, 11-6, 13-11 in the afternoon.

On the women's part, China's No. 3 seed Li Xiaoxia set up a fourth-round encounter against the 15th-seeded Lee Ho Ching of Hong Kong, China, as the London Olympic champion eased past Li Fen, who represents Sweden in Rio, 11-7, 11-7, 11-8, 11-7 in 23 minutes.

Li's next opponent is Lee Ho Ching, who beat Ukraine's Tetyana Bilenko 11-8, 12-10, 9-11, 13-11, 11-6 to reach the last 16.

Ma Long and Ding Ning, the top seed for the men's and women's singles competition respectively, made their Olympic debut with stylish victories on Sunday. Endit