China, Japan make it through to the last 16 of World Team Table Tennis Championships

Chen Meng of China returns to the women's round of 16 match against Dora Madarasz of Hungary at the 2022 ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals in Chengdu, southwest China's province of Sichuan on October 5, 2022. LIU XU XINHUA CHENGDU, China and Japan met little resistance as the knockout stage of the World Table Tennis Team Championships finals began on Wednesday.

China was unconquerable in overpowering Hungary 3 -- 0, only conceding a total of 32 points to its European opponent.

World No 1 Sun Yingsha kicked off the top seed China's knockout campaign with an 11 -- 4, 11 -- 2, 11 -- 2 victory over Leonie Hartbrich.

I got into the match more quickly today compared to group matches. Sun said that as opponents are stronger in the knockout stage, we need to focus on our own play and prepare for any difficulty in the upcoming matches.

Mima Ito came back from one game down to defeat Kim Na-yeong 3 -- 1 after Miyuu Kihara's straight-game victory over Lee Zi-on and Miyu Nagasaki's 3 -- 1 win over Yoon Hyo-bin in Japan's 3 -- 0 victory over South Korea.

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Hong Kong, China squandered a 2 -- 0 lead to be dragged into a deciding match by Romania before holding their nerve to see off its opponent 3 -- 2, with Zhu Chengzhu edging Elizabeta Samara in full games and registering two points to seal the deal.

Sun Yingsha of China hits a return in the women's round of 16 match against Leonie Hartbrich of Hungary at the 2022 ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan province, on October 5, 2022. Shunsuke Togami defeated Brazilian ace Hugo Calderano 3 -- 1 and world No in the men's event. Tomokazu Harimoto and Mizuki Oikawa followed with straight games victories, leading Japan to a 3 -- 0 win over Brazil.

South Korea and Hong Kong, China will go head-to-head in the quarter-finals, both registering 3 -- 0 victories.

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On Wednesday, 16 year-old Felix Lebrun won the decisive match, as France squeezed into England 3 -- 2 to reach the last eight.

The remaining men's round of 16 matches will take place on Thursday, with nine-time defending champion China going to kick off its knockout campaign against India.