Reigning Olympic and world champion Ma Long reached the semi-final of the ITTF Men's World Cup ©Getty Images

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. 

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.