London, July 31 (IANS) World champion Ding Ning beat Japanese Ai Fukuhara in straight sets to cruise into the women’s singles semifinals at the Olympic table tennis tournament Tuesday.
Ding, also a World Cup winner, fought a close game at the beginning before pulling away for a 15-13, 11-7, 11-6, 11-4 victory, reports Xinhua.
Earlier, Japanese Kasumi Ishikawa trounced Singapore’s Wang Yue Gu 8-11, 11-5, 11-4, 11-8, 11-4 to reach the last four.
Wang’s teammate Feng Tianwei earlier sailed into the semifinals with a 13-11, 11-7, 4-11, 11-6, 10-12, 12-10 win over the world’s top defensive player, Kim Kyung-Ah from South Korea.
Chinese Li Xiaoxia will take on Li Jiao, a former Chinese playing for the Netherlands, in the other quarterfinal.
