China's Fan survives stern Olympic quarterfinal test

China's Fan Zhendong endured a tough contest in the Olympic table tennis men's singles quarterfinals on Thursday, being beaten in the first two sets before managing a 4-3 comeback win over Tomokazu Harimoto of Japan in a seven-set thriller.

The 21-year-old Japanese started strongly, leading 2-0 and then 3-2, while the second-seeded Chinese fought back fiercely to force a decider. After tying 7-7 in the final set, Fan scored four straight points, wrapping up the match 2-11, 9-11, 11-4, 11-7, 4-11, 11-7, 11-7 at the South Paris Arena 4.

"At the start of the match, I made quite a lot of unforced errors and he played very well. That became two kinds of pressure. He never gave me too many chances," said the 27-year-old Fan, who won the men's team gold and singles silver at Tokyo 2020.

"When I fell behind, I didn't panic. I adjusted my rhythm and slowly found my momentum in the match again. I was very determined," added Fan.

"I left everything out there and did everything that I could have done," said Harimoto, a member of the bronze medal-winning men's team at Tokyo 2020. "In the last two sets you saw the quality that Fan had. He had the slight edge over me."

Fan will next play hosts France's 17-year-old Felix Lebrun on Friday for a spot in the men's singles final.

In the women's part, Sun Yingsha and Chen Meng, the top and second seeds in the women's singles event, both triumphed over their opponents with straight-set victories to reach the semifinals.

Sun, 23-year-old, who took gold in the mixed doubles at Paris 2024 with her partner Wang Chuqin, trounced 32-year-old Cheng I-Ching of Chinese Taipei 11-7, 11-4, 19-17, 11-5.

The third set of the match lasted 23 minutes before Sun secured the win. "To be able to take that third set was very crucial in winning this match," said Sun, who also won the women's team gold and singles silver at Tokyo 2020.

"It was such a tight game. It might look like I won 4-0, but in truth, we both played very well in this match," she added.

Sun will next play 24-year-old Hina Hayata of Japan on Friday in the semifinals. "Now I'm in the semifinals, I have built up some tournament momentum. Hopefully, I'll be able to enjoy the rest of the event and not leave any regrets," said Sun.

Earlier on Thursday, Sun's compatriot Chen Meng rallied to beat 29-year-old Sofia Polcanova from Austria 11-5, 11-3, 11-0, 11-8 to make the semis, where the second seed will face 20-year-old Shin Yu-bin of South Korea.

"I didn't expect the scoreline to be like this. Overall, I adjusted and moved very well on court," said the 30-year-old Chinese as the defending champion.

"When you're in the quarterfinals, no opponent is easy. My opponent is also a great player from Europe," said Chen, adding that "you have to give your all no matter what, and it's only then that you can play well."