LONDON, May 8 (Xinhua) -- China avenged its group stage loss with a 3-0 victory over South Korea in the men's quarterfinals at the 2026 ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals on Friday.
World No. 1 Wang Chuqin gave China the lead with a five-game victory over Oh Jun-sung, who had scored two points in a 3-1 win over China in the group match with Wang rested.
Wang had a 3-1 win-loss record in their head-to-head, with his only defeat coming from the men's singles quarterfinal at the 2024 Asian Championships.
Wang won 11-9 in a closely contested first game, before cruising to an 11-1 victory to double the lead.
"Playing in the first match, I was a bit nervous and had some unforced errors at the start. I tried to make it close and held firm on the crucial points," Wang said.
Playing in his first team worlds, Oh began clawing back in the third game, triumphing 11-8 and 11-7 to force a decider.
Unfazed by the comeback, Wang took the fifth game 11-7 to move the defending champion ahead.
"Oh had played some excellent matches in this tournament. He made some changes to the rhythm in the third and fourth games. In the do-or-die decider, I managed to find my rhythm and form back," Wang noted.
China's Lin Shidong showed improvement on his shape after struggling at times in the group phase, dispatching Jang Woo-jin 11-3, 13-11, 11-8.
"Wang's win in the first match boosted my confidence. With a 1-0 lead, I went all out on every point," Lin said. "It's always tough to play Jang. I didn't think too much about the outcome, and was just focused on the process."
In the third match, Liang Jingkun delivered one of his best performances so far in the tournament, beating An Jae-hyun 11-7, 11-5, 15-13 to close out China's win.
"As our team led 2-0, I felt no pressure when stepping on the court. I was not conservative during the match, just fighting for every point. I executed the tactics well, and was firm when handling every shot, regardless of the score," Liang said.
China will face either France or Brazil in the semifinals.
Earlier in the day, Japan swept Ukraine 3-0, setting up a women's semifinal clash with Germany. ■
