PARIS, Oct. 20-- Chinese paddlers Fan Zhendong and Lin Gaoyuan unsurprisingly secured their berths in quarter-finals at the 2018 ITTF Men's World Cup here on Saturday. World No. 1 Fan comfortably accounted for Gustavo Tsuboi of Brazil 11-7, 11-9, 11-6, 11-8. "I played at my level today. In the first match here, I was not quite used to the venue, so I needed to come into contention as quickly as I could," Fan explained. "The opponent did not offer many comfortable shots for me. I had a good control of the match," he added. Lin withstood early challenges to beat Kanak Jha of the United States 11-8, 6-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-3. "At the start I did not adjust to the venue quite well. It felt pretty different from the training venue, and I made many mistakes. "Then I tried to reduce errors and control the match," said Lin. Fan will take on Vladimir Samsonov in the quarter-finals later on Saturday. The three-time winner from Belarus registered an 11-6, 12-10, 11-9, 7-11, 11-7 victory over Wong Chun Ting of Hong Kong, China. Lin set up a quarter-final clash with Niwa Koki of Japan, who marched past Jonathan Groth of Denmark 11-8, 11-5, 4-11, 12-10, 11-5. "Niwa and I have played many times. I need to make full preparation for potential difficulties ahead. I need to do well at the start as it is pivotal," Lin added. Japan's Harimoto Tomokazu, the youngest competitor of the tournament, powered past Jeong Sang-eun of South Korea 11-6, 11-6, 11-7, 11-7. |