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China's Zhang poised to become world champion

World No. 1 Zhang Yining of China hits a return to Lin Ling of Hong Kong in their quarterfinal singles match in the World Table Tennis Championships yesterday. PHOTO: AFP

World No.1 Zhang Yining's tunnel-vision drive for world championship glory moved a step closer yesterday as she set up an all-China women's singles final against Guo Yan.

Zhang and Guo lined up their showdown, to be played last night, with respective victories over Hong Kong's Lin Ling and China's Guo Yue to assure China of another gold medal to add to the mixed doubles they won on Wednesday.

The host nation could come away with a third if Kong Linghui and Wang Hao beat Germany's Timo Boll and Christian Suss in the men's doubles final last night.

Guo will need to produce something special to defeat the robotic Zhang, who looks to be in a different class as she strives to take the title Wang Nan denied her in Paris two years ago.

That narrow defeat was devastating for Zhang but it ultimately forced her to try even harder

"In the past years, I have experienced all kinds of difficulties. I finished with silver medals so many times. But defeats are not useless and they have become my assets," she said.

While Ling achieved what no one else has managed this tournament by taking a set off the Olympic and Asian Games champion, that was as far as she got.

The pencil-thin Zhang's response was to shift up a gear, giving away just 19 points in the next four sets for a comfortable win.

Lin was never going to beat the 23-year-old, having lost all five previous matches to a woman who has been firing ping-pong balls across a table since she was five.

Guo is in a similar situation, losing seven of the last nine to Zhang, although she does have victory in the 2003 Japan Open and the 2001 China Open to cling to.

China's men have shown chinks in their armor in Shanghai, but still have two paddlers into the last four -- Ma Lin and Wang Liqin - -- following quarterfinal action yesterday.

The top-ranked Wang continued his march to the men's singles crown with a hard-fought 4-2 win over teammate Chen Qi.

The surprise of the day came from little-known Dane Michael Maze, who followed up his fourth-round thrashing of world No.3 Wang Hao with a come-from-behind victory over China's Hao Shuai.
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