Timo Boll beats Zhang Jike, Ma Long helps his team reach Finals

It took Ma Long's power for China to advance to the finals of the Team event in the London Olympics because Timo Boll upset the newly crowned Olympic Champion, Zhang Jike. Ma Long beat both Ovtcharov and Bastian Steger. The Chinese doubles pair beat the Germans in between.

In the other semi final, Korea beat Hong Kong quite easily, although they faced resistance in a couple of the matches. Experienced Ryu Seung Min played the strong man in that encounter. So, it was the players who did not compete in the Singles event, who played the main role.

Men's Olympic Team event semi finals:

China bt Germany 3-1
Korea Rep bt Hong Kong 3-0

The finals will be played tomorrow. In the women's finals, China faces Japan, who beat the ultra strong Singapore team 3-0!

Tang Peng stars in Hong Kong win over Japan in Olympic Team Table Tennis

Team Hong Kong defeated higher ranked Japan to advance to the semi finals of the Olympic Table Tennis team competition, where they play Korea Rep. Tang Peng was the hero of the Hong Kong team. He beat highly seasoned Seiya Kishikawa and young Koki Niwa. The other fancied teams duly advanced to the last four stage. The match between Timo Boll's Germany and China is keenly awaited.

Earlier, in the first round, the highly politically sensitive Korea Rep vs Korea DPR ended in a victory for the 2nd seeds Korea Rep 3-1.