China reaches men's and women's team semifinals at Asian Championships

China advanced to the men's and women's team semifinals at the 2026 Asian Table Tennis Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on Wednesday, after recording 3-0 victories against Iran and Thailand, respectively.

In the men's team quarterfinals, Lin Shidong gave China the opening point with a 3-1 win over Iran's Benyamin Faraji, prevailing 11-3, 11-5, 6-11, 11-3.

Xiang Peng then defeated Noshad Alamiyan 11-8, 15-13, 13-11 in a closely-contested clash, before Zhou Qihao completed the Chinese triumph by sweeping past Nima Alamian 11-8, 11-8, 11-7.

Lin acknowledged Iran's growing strength afterward, saying China had prepared for a difficult contest.

"Iran have achieved very good results in recent years, and their overall strength has improved significantly," he noted.

"We faced difficulties against them when we played a couple of years ago.

They have some excellent players and are a very strong team.

The main reason we were able to win today was that we were prepared to deal with difficulties at the table." China will face Chinese Taipei in the semifinals on Thursday.

In the women's team quarterfinals, Kuai Man opened China's showdown with Thailand by easing to an 11-6, 11-3, 11-5 victory over Suthasini Sawettabut.

Wang Yidi followed with another straight-games win, beating Orawan Paranang 11-6, 11-7, 11-5.

Chen Yi then sealed the Chinese side's semifinal berth after outlasting Jinnipa Sawettabut 11-6, 11-5, 8-11, 11-5.

China will take on the Republic of Korea in the semifinals on Thursday, with both the women's and men's squads seeking places in their respective continental finals.