Chinese stars all advance at table tennis worlds
 |
|
Wang Hao of China serves to Marcos Madrid of Mexico during their men's singles opening round at the World Team Table Tennis Championships in Paris, May 15, 2013. [Photo/Agencies] |
Chinese women went even further than their men's teammates. Seven of them, including qualifier Hu Limei, played two matches each within a day and all cruised to the third round.
The day's biggest surprise came from Japanese star Fukuhara Ai, who was upset 4-2 by little-known Park Seong-hye of South Korea in the first round.
The 12th-ranked Fukuhara, who has long been Japan's darling of the sport, lost 4-11, 11-6, 11-9, 3-11, 11-8, 11-6 to Park, who was ranked 166th in the world.
"I was too nervous and failed to play my best," the 24-year-old said in Chinese. "I don't think there's anything wrong. I did not control the rhythm well."
Fukuhara shocked table tennis world by reaching the last eight at the 2003 Paris world championships at the age of 14. But that remains her best singles feat in the world championships.
Related stories:
Olympic champion Zhang Jike advances in Paris
Top seed Xu Xin reaches second round
- China's table tennis team trains for Paris tournament
- Paris World Table Tennis Championships attract record entry
- China's Zhang Jike confident of title defense at table tennis worlds
- Chinese women win table tennis team gold
- China wins table tennis men's team gold
- China secure another table tennis gold
