China's table tennis teams demonstrated resilience and dominance at the Asian Table Tennis Team Championships in India this week, with both men's and women's squads securing semifinal berths after hard-fought matches.
Men's Team: A Test of Nerve
The defending champion men's team faced an early shock when world No. 2 Lin Shidong fell 3-2 to Iran's 15-year-old sensation Benyamin Faraji, who had previously stunned Wang Chuqin in 2023. Liang Jingkun leveled the score with a gritty 3-1 comeback against Noshad Alamian, setting the stage for world No. 1 Wang Chuqin's decisive 3-0 sweep over Amir Hodeyi. Lin redeemed himself with a straight-games victory against Alamian to seal the 3-1 quarterfinal win.
Women's Team: Commanding Performance
The women's team, last year's runners-up, delivered a clinical 3-0 victory against Thailand. World No. 2 Wang Manyu set the tone with a dominant opening match, followed by world No. 1 Sun Yingsha's strategic 3-0 win. World No. 4 Kuai Man completed the sweep with an 11-6, 11-7, 11-8 triumph over Jinnipa Sawettabut.
Both Chinese teams now face crucial semifinal matches on Tuesday, with the men taking on Japan and the women meeting South Korea.
