Going to Rio: China veteran Li Xiaoxia clinches Games berth after beating world No 4

Veteran Li Xiaoxia of China has proven that she is still the player to beat after snatching the East Asia olympic berth with an overwhelming victory against Kasumi Ishikawa of Japan at Queen Elizabeth Stadium on Thursday.

One of the few grand slam winners in table tennis, the 28-year-old was in tremendous form in Hong Kong when she ousted Ishikawa, the world number four, in straight games 11-9, 11-8, 11-3, 11-4 in a quick-fire 25-minute final of the stage one competition of the qualification tournament.

In the men’s all-China final, world number one Ma Long beat compatriot Fan Zhendong, clinching his Olympic berth with a 4-1 win (16-18, 11-3, 11-6, 11-7, 13-11).

“It was not easy to win the final after a difficult start, but the victory proved my hard work,” said Ma, who is going to make his singles Olympic debut after only representing China in the team event at the London Games four years ago.

“It’s too early to talk about the Rio Games as I will need to fine-tune my form through some systematic training in the remaining months before testing myself against the best players in Rio.”