Chinese pair enter men's table tennis semis at London Olympics

 LONDON, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- Top seed Zhang Jike of China beat Jiang Tianhyi of Hong Kong, China, in five sets to cruise¹ into the men's singles semifinals at the Olympic table tennis tournament² on Wednesday.

The world champion, world number one and hot favorite won 11-4, 8-11, 11-4, 11-9 and 11-6 against his childhood good friend, No. 11 seed.

Zhang, appearing relaxed, said he felt less pressured than two days ago. "I feel much better now. The pressure was huge two days ago. Jiang and I are very familiar with each other. So I feel more comfortable today."

Zhang narrowly made into the quarterfinals on Monday, after being dragged into a tight³ seven-set match by five-time Olympian Vladimir Samsonov of Belarus.

Asked why his coach Liu Guoliang touched his ears at the break after the fourth set, Zhang said Liu told him to relax. "He said I already led Jiang 3-1, and there this no need to play so cautiously⁴."

Jiang, who moved to Hong Kong from the Chinese mainland⁵ in 2005, said he trained together with Zhang Jike in east China's Shandong Province since they were 11. And they both later entered the national youth team. "We were good friends and know each other's playing style very well."

Jiang said it was pity that he didn't take the chance and win the fourth set when he was at 9-9 with Zhang. "I think any player competing against China would feel pressured in the clutch⁶ moment. But generally I think I played well."

Zhang will face Germany's Dimitrij Ovtcharov in the semifinals on Thursday. Ovtcharov entered the top four after a seven-set tight match against Denmark's Michael Maze⁷ on Tuesday.

Talking about Zhang's nervous start to the tournament, coach Liu said it's because Zhang has a target in his mind (a gold medal). "I have talked to him about this. He must forget that he is world number one in order to fully⁸ realize his potential."

Liu said opponents⁹ in the semifinals are very tough. "The most important thing to us is to let go all the pressure and really go for it. We are prepared for hard battles. But we are confident that we will win."

Zhang's teammate¹⁰ Wang Hao, seeded No. 2, comfortably booked a seat in the semifinal after beating Seiya Kishikawa in four straight sets (11-4, 11-5, 11-3, 11-5), dashing¹¹ Japan's last hope of claiming an Olympic medal in table tennis singles events in London.

Wang, twice Olympic silver medalist, said he had prepared for a hard game against Kishikawa but it turned out all right.

Wang will face Chuang Chih-Yuan of Chinese Taipei, No. 5 seed, in the semifinal. Chuang entered the semifinal after beating Romania's Adrian Crisan 4-0.

1 cruise   

v.巡航，航游，缓慢巡行；n.海上航游

参考例句：

• They went on a cruise to Tenerife.他们乘船去特纳利夫岛。
• She wants to cruise the canals of France in a barge.她想乘驳船游览法国的运河。

2 tournament   

n.比赛，竞赛，锦标赛

参考例句：

• He was the best boxer in the tournament.他是本届联赛的最佳拳手。
• The Council resolved that the next tournament should be held in Shanghai.理事会决定下次比赛在上海举行。

3 tight   

adj.紧的；难解的；紧密的

参考例句：

• Time is going to be tight,so you'd better hurry.时间很紧，你最好抓紧一点。
• The box is so tight that I can't open it.这个盒子太紧，我打不开。

4 cautiously   

adv.小心地，谨慎地；小心翼翼；翼翼

参考例句：

• She walked cautiously up the drive towards the door. 她小心翼翼地沿着车道向门口走去。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 mainland   

n.大陆，本土

参考例句：

• The new bridge will link the island to the mainland.新的桥梁将把该岛与大陆连接在一起。
• Hong Kong's prosperity relies heavily on mainland.香港的繁荣在很大程度上依赖于大陆。

6 clutch   

v.（牢牢地）抓住，抓紧，紧握；n.离合器

参考例句：

• She released the clutch and the car began to move.她放开离合器，汽车就动了。
• A drowning man will clutch at a straw.即将溺死的人连一根草也要去抓。

7 maze   

n.迷宫，八阵图，混乱，迷惑

参考例句：

• He found his way through the complex maze of corridors.他穿过了迷宮一样的走廊。
• She was lost in the maze for several hours.一连几小时，她的头脑处于一片糊涂状态。

8 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

9 opponents   

n.对手，敌手( opponent的名词复数 )；反对者

参考例句：

• Somehow he always manages to outwit his opponents. 他反正总能设法智胜对手。
• to use strong-arm tactics against your political opponents 用强制手段对付政敌

10 teammate   

n.队友

参考例句：

• He is a great teammate.他是一个伟大的队友。
• He missed the ball passed from his teammate.他没能接住队友传来的球。

11 dashing   

adj.时髦的，华丽的；劲头十足的；打扮漂亮的；勇敢的，有锐气的v.冲，猛冲(dash的现在分词)；猛掷

参考例句：

• a dashing young officer 风度翩翩的年轻军官
• Little mountain stream is dashing down to the plain. 小山涧奔腾而下，流向平原。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》