Chinese star paddlers Ma Lin and Wang Hao will resume rivalry after both making it to the semifinals of Tournament of Champions on Saturday.
"It will be the second time that Ma Lin and I face each other outside of the national team's training hall since the speed glue was banned," said Wang Hao, runner-up to Ma in the Beijing Olympics.
"We'll see who's the better one in handling the non-speed glued racket," he added.
The world 1-2 ranked duo, both pen holders, respectively denied their European rivals' chance to advance as Wang Hao beat Germany's teenage sensation Dimitrij Ovtcharov 11-4, 11-8, 11-5,11-9, following Ma Lin's 11-7, 11-5, 11-8, 11-4 victory over former world cup winner Kalinikos Kreanga.
More than four month ago, Wang Hao lost 4-1 to Ma Lin in the men's singles final of the Beijing Olympic table tennis competitions, although Ma had to use Wang's reserved racket after empires disqualified his own bat for using too much speed glue.
Later on Saturday afternoon, the remaining quarters will be matched between Europe's highest ranked male player Timo Boll of Germany and one of the oldest star paddlers Jorgen Persson of Sweden, as well as three-time world champion Wang Liqin of China and Chinese Taipei's No. 1 player Chuang Chih Yuan.
In the women's play, Olympic champion and world No. 1 Zhang Yining ousted Singapore's Wang Yue Gu to make the semis.
Fourth seed Li Jia Wei of Singapore ruled out Ruta Paskauskiene of Lithuania, 11-3, 12-10, 11-7, 11-5.
The only other European player Elisabeta Samara of Romania will meet second seeded world champion Guo Yue later afternoon, as the latter awaits a world championship final rematch against compatriot Li Xiaoxia who faces Singapore's Feng Tian Wei in the quarters.
As the last event on the international calendar of table tennis, Tournament of Champions has drawn the world's leading star paddlers to central Chinese city of Changsha this weekend.
(Xinhua News Agency January 10, 2009)
