Defending champ Zhu crashes out of China Open TT

Defending champion Zhu Yuling of China crashed out of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) World Tour China Open after losing to Yang Haeun of South Korea 3-4 in the women's singles quarter-finals here on Saturday.

After the two players tied at 3-3 into the decisive game, Yang, who got the mixed doubles title at the 2015 World Championships with Xu Xin of China, sealed the win at 11-8, reports Xinhua.

"I didn't make full praparation for this game," said Zhu, a Sichuan native who claimed the title at the 2015 edition.

"She (Yang) was much stable throughout the match, which helped her win the decisive game," added Zhu.

Zhu would rather take a loss as her harvest from the ITTF World Tour tournament. "I mainly focus on improving something at such tournaments as China Open, and I felt that I've got a lot from this process. Hoping that I can get rid of the bottleneck as soon as possible," she said.

China Open marks a fresh start of preparation for the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2020. Zhu expressed her prospects for the next Olympic span.

Yang will face world No. 1 Liu Shiwen of China, who edged past tournament's under-21 champion Zeng Jian of Singapore 4-3 earlier, in Sunday's semi-finals.

"I cannot think too much about winning or losing against Liu, and should focus on fighting for each point," said Yang.

--IANS

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