Reigning Olympic and world champion Ma Long set up a semi-final clash with Tomokazu Harimoto at the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Men’s World Cup at the Weihai Nanhai Olympic Center.
Ma, who failed to gain a place on the podium at last year’s World Cup, began his campaign against surprise qualifier Darko Jorgic of Slovenia and battled to a 11-7, 12-14, 11-9, 11-13, 13-11, 11-3 win.
He then overcame Germany's Dimitrijj Ovtcharov 11-9, 11-4, 11-7, 7-11, 11-5 to reach the semi-finals.
Japan's Harimoto, the competition's third seed, eased through to the final four.
He comfortably beat Robert Gardos of Austria 11-3, 11-7, 12-10, 11-8, before defeating Mattias Falck of Sweden 11-9, 11-8, 11-9, 4-11, 11-9.
Check out a day full of action and shocks at the Men's #ITTFWorldCup 💥🏓😲#RESTART pic.twitter.com/7lxskDtBmG
— ITTF World (@ittfworld) November 14, 2020
The remaining semi-final is set to take place between defending champion and top seed Fan Zhendong and Jang Woo-jin of South Korea.
China's Fan defeated Chuang Chih-yuan 11-5, 11-9, 11-8, 11-6, before winning against another Chinese Taipei player, Lin Yun-ju, 12-10, 9-11, 11-2, 11-5, 7-11, 11-5.
Jang endured a 11-13, 11-4, 12-14, 8-11, 11-9, 11-7, 12-10 battle against Koki Niwa of Japan to reach the quarter-finals.
He then overcame compatriot Jeoung Young-sik 15-13, 11-9, 2-11, 11-6, 7-11, 11-6.
Competition is set to conclude tomorrow with the men's semi-finals and medal matches.
