Astana, Oct 12
China's young duo Lin Shidong/Kuai Man advanced to the mixed doubles final at the 27th Asian Table Tennis Championships on Friday.
19-year-old Lin and 20-year-old Kuai outplayed Ham Yu Song/Pyon Song Gyong of DPR Korea 3-1 and will take on Olympic silver medalists Ri Jong Sik/Kim Kum Yong, another DPR Korea pair, who edged world No. 2 Lim Jong-hoon/Shin Yu-bin of South Korea in full games.
"We were not quite cautious about our serve in the first game, giving our opponents many opportunities to attack, and then we began to make some adjustments from the second game," quoted Lin as saying after the match.
Talking about the final, he said, "They played great and showed their characteristics at the Paris Olympics, with the female paddler possessing long-pimpled technique and the male paddler playing good forehand, which made their opponents feel uncomfortable."
Chinese paddlers also marched forward on other fronts, with top-ranked Wang Chuqin registering a 3-0 victory over Mohammad Mousavi Taher of Iran to reach the men's singles last 32, along with his compatriots Xiang Peng, Xu Yingbin, Lin Shidong and Liang Jingkun.
In the women's singles event, Chen Xingtong, Kuai Man and Wang Yidi advanced to the last 16, while Shi Xunyao conceded a 3-2 loss to Doo Hoi Kem of Hong Kong, China.
Lin Gaoyuan/Lin Shidong and Liang Jingkun/Xu Yingbin made it to the men's doubles last eight, while Chen Xingtong/Kuai Man reached the women's doubles quarterfinals.
The mixed doubles and men's doubles finals will be held on Saturday, the penultimate day of the tournament held in Astana, Kazakhstan.