Six Chinese table tennis players won the semifinal berths at the Beijing Paralympics after Monday's matches, while another two were edged out in the group stages.
The table tennis competition is separated into 10 classes depending on players' disabilities. The smaller the number is, the more severe their disabilities are. Classes 6 to 10 are for standing competitors while classes 1 to 5 are for players seated on wheelchairs.
Poland's Natalia Partyka, the only player in the tournament that participated in both the Olympics and the Paralympics, easily marched into the semifinals in class 10 after sweeping her group opponents with triple 3-0s, including two matches against Chinese Hou Chunxiao and Athens Paralympics bronze medalist Li Yuqiang.
But Hou still won her semifinal position as the group second after edging Li with games against differences.
Fan Lei from the same class defeated all her group opponents, thus will meet her teammate Hou in the semifinals. Partyka will take on Michala la Bourdonnaye from Czech Republic.
Five-time Paralympics gold medalist for women's class 8, Zhang Xiaoling, also qualified for the final round after edging French Claire Mairie by 3-1.
Lei Lina and Liu Meili in class 9 both stepped out as No. 1 in their groups, and will take on Polish player Malgorzata Grzelak and Turkish player Neslihan Kavas in the semifinals, respectively.
Chinese Liu Jing, the only host player in women's class 2, defeated her group opponents, but Gao Yanming from men's class 2 was knocked out after all three losses in his group.
A seven-time Paralympian, Germany's Rainer Schimidt, was lucky enough to be put back on track for the final competition after winning Franco Carlo Michell from Brazil while witnessing Polish Miroslaw Kowalski defeat Dave Wetherill from Britain.
Only the top player in his group would progress to the final round. Schimidt and Wetherill are likely to compete for the only semifinal berth with game differences after Tuesday's competitions.
However, men's class 1 matches saw Athens Paralympics gold and bronze medalists knock out while the silver winner four years ago. Lee Hae-Kon from South Korea, became the only survivor in this tournament, along with his teammate Cho Jae-Kwan, Austrian player Andreas Vevera and French Jean-Francois Ducay.
Only six classes have finished group stages after Monday's matches. The rest classes, including women's class 4-5, men's class 9-10, where Chinese are strong medal contenders, will finish the group matches on Tuesday.
(Xinhua News Agency September 9, 2008)