体坛英语新闻：Li Xiaoxia, Feng Tianwei advance to semifinals after tough battles

SINGAPORE, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- China's world No. 1 table tennis player Li Xiaoxia made it to the semifinals on Saturday by beating Wang Yuegu of Singapore, who put up a tough fight towards the end of the match.

Li and Wang finished the first four sets at 2-2 and Li managed to get a lead by beating her opponent in the fifth set. She was again leading the sixth set at 10-8 but Wang gave her a tough time by taking three consecutive points to make it 11-10 in her favor. Li finally won the set 13-11 to win 4-2.

Ding Ning, the world No. 2 from China, won in straight sets against South Korean defense specialist Kim Kyung Ah.

Shi Zhihao, head coach of China women's national team, said it was a period of tuning up for the Chinese players before the London Olympics.

"We have recently had a lot of matches. The players have good games at present but they are not at their best physically," he said.

The Chinese players flied to Singapore just two days after returning to Beijing. They are expected to fly to Germany for the Team World Cup soon.

Tie Yana of Hong Kong, China, beat her veteran teammate Jiang Huajun in another quarterfinal on Saturday evening. She will play against Li Xiaoxia in one of the semifinals on Sunday.

Feng Tianwei, Singapore's world No. 4, had a tough time against German player Wu Jiaduo before she called it a day by winning the sixth set 14-12. Feng won the match 4-2. She will face Ding Ning in the semifinals on Sunday.