London, May 8 (IANS) China avenged their 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 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, reports Xinhua.

China’s Lin Shidong showed improvement in his shape after struggling at times in the group phase, dispatching Jang Woo-jin 11-3, 13-11, 11-8. 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.

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.

China beat South Korea 3-0 on Thursday to advance to the women’s team semifinals at the 2026 ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals, with world No. 1 Sun Yingsha surviving a five-game scare in the second match. China had also defeated South Korea 3-0 in the group stage. Wang Manyu gave China a strong start, beating Shin Yu-bin 11-1, 11-4, 11-4.

Facing Kim Na-yeong again after their group meeting, Sun was pushed much harder.

After taking the opening game 11-7, Sun dropped the next two 11-7, 11-7 and trailed 4-1 in the fourth. She then won 10 straight points to level the match and force a decider. Kim threatened another upset in the fifth, closing from 9-5 down to within one point, but Sun held on to win 11-9.

–IANS

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