China completes turnaround in men's semis at Asian Table Tennis Team C'ships

NEW DELHI, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- China rallied from two sets down to achieve a 3-2 comeback win over Japan in the men's semifinals at the ITTF-ATTU 28th Asian Table Tennis Team Championships in Bhubaneswar, India on Tuesday.

China had its back against the wall after Liang Jingkun and Wang Chuqin both fell in five games, to Japan's Tomokazu Harimoto and Sora Matsushima, respectively.

World No. 2 Lin Shidong gave the defending champion a flicker of hope with a 3-2 (12-14, 11-2, 11-5, 10-12, 11-6) victory over Hiroto Shinozuka.

Stepping onto the court again, Wang and Liang made amends for their earlier defeats by outplaying Harimoto and Matsushima respectively, both in five games as well, to complete China's turnaround in a match which lasted over four hours.

In the title showdown, China will face Hong Kong, China, which also went the full distance to eliminate Chinese Taipei.

In the women's semifinals, China dominated South Korea 3-0, setting up a final clash with Japan again. China had lost 3-1 in last year's final.

World No. 1 Sun Yingsha moved China ahead with a 3-1 (11-4, 11-8, 4-11, 11-4) victory over Shin Yu-bin, before second-ranked Wang Manyu extended the lead with another 3-1 (8-11, 11-5, 11-7, 11-6) win against Kim Na-yeong.

Wang Yidi secured China's final spot after beating Lee Eun-hye 11-8, 11-4, 12-10.

Miwa Harimoto, Honoka Hashimoto and Satsuki Odo powered Japan to a 3-0 victory over Singapore in the other semifinal.

The tournament concludes on Wednesday with men's and women's team titles up for grabs.