China’s Ma Long yesterday reached the semifinals of the ITTF men’s World Cup with an easy 4-1 win over Germany’s Dimitrij Ovtcharov.
He will now meet nemesis Tomokazu Harimoto in the semi-finals whom he lost to 2-4 at the semi-final stage of the competition last year.
Long had earlier defeated Slovenia’s Darko Jorgic 4-2 in the quarterfinals.
Harimoto cruised to the semi-finals with wins over Austria’s Robert Gardos and Sweden’s Mattias Falck whom he defeated by a 4-1 margin.
Top-seeded Fan Zhendong, the defending champion, defeated 39-year-old Chuang Chih-Yuan and Lin Yun Jun of Chinese Taipei.
He will face South Korea’s Jang Woo Jin who ousted his compatriot Jeoung Young-Sik.
