YOGYAKARTA, Indonesia, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- Former world No. 1 Ding Ning ousted the Asian Table Tennis Championships (ATTC) defending champion Miu Hirano 3-0 in the women's singles quarterfinals here on Friday.
The victory was payback for Ding who lost to Hirano in the 2017 Asian championships held in Wuxi, China, where the Japanese teenager eventually won the women's singles title after defeating China's Chen Meng in the final.
Ding, a three-time world champion and Rio Olympic gold medalist, was given a bit of a challenge in the second game but managed to pack winning scores of 11-8, 13-11, 11-4 over Hirano here in Among Raga Sports Hall.
"I think I played better tonight than at noon today. For tonight's quarterfinal match, we already knew each other as we have met a lot before. We performed well," Ding said after sealing the semifinal spot.
The 29-year-old, who played three knockout rounds in a row on Friday, will next take on her compatriot Sun Yingsha on Saturday, who beat Wang Manyu 3-0 in the quarterfinals.
The other semifinal encounters will pit top-seeded Chinese Chen Meng and reigning world champion Liu Shiwen after Chen trashed Singapore player Feng Tianwei 3-0 and Liu ousted Japan's Kasumi Ishikawa on the same score.
