China secure singles titles at ITTF Swedish Open

STOCKHOLM - Chinese paddlers were back to their familiar winning manner as they secured men's and women's singles titles through ITTF World Tour Swedish Open semifinals on Saturday.

Top two seeds Fan Zhendong and Xu Xin reached men's singles final. In women's singles title match, Ding Ning will meet qualifier Chen Xingtong.

In men's singles quarterfinals earlier on Saturday, Fan got past Quadri Aruna of Nigeria in straight games, setting up a clash with teammate Zhou Yu, who eliminated Lin Gaoyuan 4-2.

Xu Xin came back from one game down to beat Jonathan Groth of Denmark 4-1. Following Fang Bo's victory over Koki Niwa of Japan through a seven-game thriller, Chinese paddlers were set to take up all last four spots.

Fan Zhendong and Zhou Yu were in a totally different scenario from their German Open second round, where Fan won 4-0. The two paddlers dragged the match into the decider, before Fan clawed back from 9-6 down to nail the victory at 12-10.

Xu Xin advanced through the other semifinal with a 4-2 victory over Fang Bo.

In women's quarterfinals, World Cup winner Zhu Yuling withstood huge test from Japan's Miyu Kato and won in full games. Chen Xingtong also shocked German Open champion Chen Meng after seven games.

On Saturday evening, world champion Ding Ning overwhelmed top-ranked Japanese Kasumi Ishikawa, the only non-Chinese paddler remaining in semifinals, in straight games.

Chen Xingtong caused another upset for top seeds, as she beat second-seeded Zhu Yuling after five games.

The Swedish Open, final stop of the 2017 ITTF World Tour, will conclude on Sunday. Fan Zhendong and Xu Xin secured their places in doubles final, also for their women's counterparts Chen Meng and Zhu Yuling, meaning a possible title sweep for China.