China set to sweep golds in Asiad table tennis

Table tennis giants China are destined to sweep five gold medals on offer as four paddlers secured two all-Chinese finals in singles events at the 18th Asian Games on Saturday.

China's Fan Zhendong serves against South Korea's Lee Sang-su during their men's semi-final table tennis match at the Asian Games in Jakarta on September 1, 2018. [Photo: VCG/Juni Kriswanto]

In the men's singles semifinals, top-ranked Fan Zhendong heated up quickly into the match and beat Lee Sang-su 11-3 in the first set, but the South Korean had his response to take the second set 11-4.

"I have made good preparation for tough situation today," said Fan.

Then Fan made timely adjustment through late-match tussle to win the duel 11-4, 11-9, 11-5.

For Fan, the fourth-set victory was crucial.

"I made several errors in the fourth set, so did my opponent. At 9-all, I snatched two points on serves, which were quite important for the win," he pointed out.

"My opponent played a solid game. I still had much to improve," said Lee.

Fan will meet fellow Chinese Lin Gaoyuan in the final later on Saturday. Lin ended a dramatic journey of Iranian underdog Noshad Alamiyan Daronkolaei, winning 12-10, 11-7, 11-6, 11-2.

Chen Meng eased past Jeon Ji-hee of South Korea 11-7, 11-7, 11-6, 11-4 in the women's singles penultimate round action.

Chen admitted that she had not expected this result. "I played resolutely today. Actually, I was a bit nervous before the match, but I regrouped well at the start," she said.

Chen will next face teammate Wang Manyu, who beat Singapore's Yu Mengyu 11-7, 11-6, 11-5, 9-11, 11-7.

"Everyone remaining in the competition is on a similar level. The key in the final is mental adjustment on the court," Chen commented.

Prior to the men's and women's singles on Saturday, China has bagged three golds in the men's and women's team and mixed doubles events.