China, Japan to fight for women's title at Asian Table Tennis Championships

Top-seeded Chinese paddlers prevailed here at the Asian Table Tennis Championships on Tuesday, beating the team from Hong Kong, China 3-0 to set up a women's team final against Japan.

The star-studded Chinese team was spearheaded by the 2016 Rio Olympic champion Ding Ning, who only let her opponent Lee Ho Ching earn 12 points, followed by Zhu Yuling and Chen Meng, who both wrapped up their games in three straight sets.

"Compared to their performance in last night's quarterfinals, our team members played table tennis at a higher level and went faster into the game," said China head coach Kong Linghui.

"I knew they'd win 3-0 over the Hong Kong players but I didn't expect such a quick victory," added Kong, who was a men's grand slam winner in the late 1990s.

Ding was the top-placed female paddler in the recently released ITTF world rankings, with Zhu and Chen at 2nd and 5th respectively.

A surprise on Tuesday came from three Japanese teenagers, as Miu Hirano beat South Korean Yang Hae Un, Mima Ito overcame Suh Hyo Won and Hina Hayata took out Kim Kyungah, all 3-0.

The final between China and Japan will be played later on Tuesday. Endit