LONDON, May 8 (Xinhua) -- China avenged its group stage loss with a 3-0 victory over South Korea in the men's quarterfinals at the 2026 ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals on Friday.

World No. 1 Wang Chuqin gave China the lead with a five-game victory over Oh Jun-sung, who had scored two points in a 3-1 win over China in the group match with Wang rested.

Wang had a 3-1 win-loss record in their head-to-head, with his only defeat coming from the men's singles quarterfinal at the 2024 Asian Championships.

Wang won 11-9 in a closely contested first game, before cruising to an 11-1 victory to double the lead.

Playing in his first team worlds, Oh began clawing back in the third game, triumphing 11-8 and 11-7 to force a decider.

Unfazed by the comeback, Wang took the fifth game 11-7 to move the defending champion ahead.

China's Lin Shidong showed improvement on his shape after struggling at times in the group phase, dispatching Jang Woo-jin 11-3, 13-11, 11-8.

In the third match, Liang Jingkun delivered one of his best performances so far in the tournament, beating An Jae-hyun 11-7, 11-5, 15-13 to close out China's win.

China will face either France or Brazil in the semifinals.

Earlier in the day, Japan swept Ukraine 3-0, setting up a women's semifinal clash with Germany. ■