TASHKENT, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) -- China's Kuai Man defeated Japan's Honoka Hashimoto for the first time in official competition on Saturday, helping China secure three of the four women's singles semifinal berths at the Asian Table Tennis Championships.
Kuai, who had lost all her previous official encounters with the Japanese defensive specialist, adopted an aggressive approach to secure an 11-6, 11-7, 4-11, 11-5 quarterfinal victory.
Hashimoto had beaten two Chinese players in the women's team final earlier in the tournament, but Kuai kept her opponent under pressure with attacking placement and limited her reliance on defensive returns.
The victory set up a semifinal against Japan's Miwa Harimoto, the only non-Chinese player remaining in the women's singles draw.
In the other half, Wang Yidi recovered from a game down to defeat Japan's Satsuki Odo 3-1, while Chen Yi swept Hina Hayata 3-0 to set up an all-Chinese semifinal.
Kuai had earlier beaten India's Diya Das 3-0 in the round of 16 before teaming up with Wang to defeat Thailand's Orawan Paranang and Suthasini Sawettabut 3-0 in the women's doubles quarterfinals.
China also secured two semifinal berths in the men's singles, with Li Tianyang and Wen Ruibo advancing from opposite halves of the draw.
Li swept compatriot Xiang Peng 3-0 in the quarterfinals and will face Chinese Taipei's Kuo Kuan-hung for a place in the final.
Wen, who recovered from a game down to beat Kazakhstan's Kirill Gerassimenko 3-1 in the round of 16, defeated South Korea's Park Gang-hyeon 3-0 in the quarterfinals to set up a meeting with Japan's Tomokazu Harimoto.
In the men's doubles, Lin Shidong and Huang Youzheng beat Harimoto and Hiroto Shinozuka 3-1, while Wen and Yuan Licen rallied from a game down to defeat India's Manav Jain and Manush Shah by the same score.
The two Chinese pairs will compete in opposite semifinals, with Lin and Huang facing Singapore's Feng Yao En and Guo Yong, while Wen and Yuan take on Hong Kong, China's Wong Chun Ting and Chan Ho Wah.
China also has two pairs in the women's doubles semifinals, both facing Japanese opposition.
Kuai and Wang will meet Odo and Miyu Nagasaki, while Chen and Jiang Yiyi face Miwa Harimoto and Hayata.
Kuai, Wang and Wen each recorded three victories across singles and doubles competition on Saturday as China enjoyed a strong showing on the penultimate day of the championships.
In one of China's setbacks, Huang Youzheng lost to Tomokazu Harimoto in the men's singles after struggling with his return of serve.
The championships conclude Sunday with the men's and women's singles semifinals and finals, along with the men's and women's doubles finals.
