BUDAPEST, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- The women's singles will feature all-Chinese semifinal match-ups after top four seeds Zhu Yuling, Chen Meng, Wang Manyu and Liu Shiwen beat their respective opponents in the quarterfinals at the ITTF World Tour Hungarian Open on Friday.
Top seed Zhu Yuling was not put to much test by compatriot Chen Xingtong as she cruised to an 11-4, 11-4, 11-8, 11-8 victory. Neither did no.4 seed Liu Shiwen, who outclassed teammate Sun Yingsha 11-6, 11-8, 11-9, 13-11 to book a semifinal clash with Zhu.
With Wang Manyu and Chen Meng earning their semifinal berths in the bottom half of the draw, China manifested its dominance in the women's event.
In the men's singles, Fan Zhendong stayed on course to defend his title after a hard-fought 11-9, 15-17, 11-7, 11-9, 7-11, 14-12 victory over Chuang Chih-Yuan of Chinese Taipei in the second round.
"I had to be careful at the beginning of the match because he starts really strong in every match and my goal was to prevent him from making a good start. I changed the rhythm well in match," Fan Zhendong said. "I will continue to fight in the later rounds."
Second-seeded Xu Xin survived a seven-set thriller to defeat compatriot Liang Jingkun, after the two fought side by side to ease past French duo Tristan Flore and Emmanue Lesbesson in the men's doubles semifinals. Xu and Liang will take on Fan Zhendong and Lin Gaoyuan for the doubles gold medal.
A busy but fruitful day for Xu saw he and partner Liu Shiwen win in the mixed doubles semifinals. They will face home favorites Adam Szudi and Szandra Pergel, who defeated Russia's Alexander Shibaev and Polina Mikhailova in straight sets.
The Hungarian Open, held in Budapest from January 15 to 20, is the first ITTF World Tour tournament in the new season.
