Worlds an all-Asian affair after Chinese wins

China's Liu Shiwen and Ma Long snuffed out the last of the European challenge on Sunday to make the World Table Tennis Championships an all-Asian affair.

The 18-year-old Liu, who upset her compatriot and world number four Guo Yan on Saturday, brushed aside Iveta Vacenovska of the Czech Republic 9-11, 11-8, 12-10, 11-5, 17-15 in the women's singles quarter-finals.

"It's the same for everybody that she wants to win. I'm also eager to win. I've lost so many matches before, and those losses made me stronger," said Liu.

The 20-year-old Ma, who won the Grand Finals in December last year, powered his way through to a 12-10, 13-11, 11-7, 11-9 victory over Michael Maze of Denmark in the men's singles quarter-finals.

"It was a tough match. My opponent played aggressively, which forced me to play defensively," said Ma. "I wanted to play more offensively from the start."

Mighty China, led by world number ones Wang Hao and Zhang Yining, turned the men's and women's singles semi-finals into a domestic tournament.

Wang set up a semi-final meeting against Ma Long when he whipped Kaii Yoshida of Japan 11-9, 11-8, 8-11, 11-3, 11-4.

"He (Yoshida) knows my play style very well, so I tried to read the course of his shots. When your opponent knows your game very well, it's difficult to cope with," he said.

Zhang lost one game for the first time in five matches before quashing the challenge from Japanese teenager Kasumi Ishikawa to set up a match against Liu Shiwen.

"I was surprised that Ishikawa has improved a lot so quickly. I hadn't expected it. She gained a lot of experience and it was a bit difficult to take the initiative," said Zhang.

World silver medallist Li Xiaoxia beat Dang Ye-Seo of South Korea, while defending champion Guo Yue breezed past Feng Tianwei of Singapore.

"It was tough in the first two games, but I finally got into my rhythm in the fourth game. I'm satisfied with my performance today.