BEIJING, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- Chinese women stormed
into the semifinals of the Olympic team table tennis competition on Thursday,
with an easy 3-0 win over Austria.
The squad of Zhang Yining, Guo Yue and Wang Nan, who
had also whitewashed Croatia and Dominican Republic, became the winner of group
A. The winner of any of the four groups will directly reach the semifinals.
World champion Guo beat 58th-ranked Li Qiangbing of
Austria 11-7, 11-7 9-11, 11-4, before veteran Wang easily crushed Veronika Heine
12-11, 11-6,11-1. Fast-attacking Zhang followed, pairing with Guo to demolish a
duo of 17th-ranked Liu Jia and Li Qiangbing 11-3, 11-3, 11-7.
China's star-studded women will play the winners of
groups C and D in the semifinals. At the top of group B, Singapore also reached
semifinals but will not meet China until the city-state makes the final.
The Singaporean squad, led by sixth-ranked Beijing
native Li Jia Wei, scored a series of stunning 3-0 wins over the Netherlands,
the United States and Nigeria.
Hong Kong and Germany will fight late Thursday for
the top position in Group C, while South Korea and Japan will compete to be the
first-finisher in Group D.