Sun Yingsha (L) of China competes during the women's singles round of 16 between Sun Yingsha of China and Harimoto Miwa of Japan at WTT Finals Women Nagoya 2023 table tennis tournament in Nagoya, Japan, Dec. 15, 2023. (Xinhua/Zhang Xiaoyu)

Chinese paddlers had a good opening day as the 2023 Women's World Table Tennis (WTT) Finals kicked off in Nagoya, Japan on Friday.

This is the first time WTT series is being held in Japan. The world's best 16 women's singles players and top eight women's doubles pairs will compete for the season-ending championships.

Having won the women's singles title at WTT Champions Frankfurt last month, China's Wang Yidi rallied past Shin Yu-bin of South Korea 11-6, 11-6, 11-13, 11-5 to secure the first ticket of last eight.

"Though I started out a little bit nervous, the first two games went unexpectedly well. Then I had a tough challenge from the opponent in the third game, it pushed me to adjust my mindset and try to be more aggressive, fortunately it worked," said Wang.

The world No. 2 Wang Manyu emerged victorious 3-0 over Monaco's Yang Xiaoxin. Wang managed to recover from a 10-7 deficit, landing five points in a row to claim the first game 12-10. The 24-year-old secured the victory with back-to-back game wins, 11-8 and 11-7.

Zhang Rui claimed an 11-6, 11-7, 12-10 victory over her compatriot and world No. 7 Qian Tianyi, also the first time a higher-ranked player has been overpowered in this tournament. Zhang will play against another teammate Wang Yidi.

Chen Xingtong edged European Games winner Bernadette Szocs in five tight games, taking revenge on the Romanian who had won their previous meeting at WTT Champions Macao earlier this year.

Chen Meng and Hina Hayata of Japan played another close match. After the 29-year-old Olympic champion was dragged into a decider by her opponent, Chen ultimately sealed a last-eight berth by winning the deciding game 11-7.

World No. 1 Sun Yingsha also met strong resistance from Japanese teenage sensation Miwa Harimoto in her first match of the tournament. After a 2-2 tie in first four sets, Sun wrapped up her victory with an eight-point streak in the deciding game.

"This is my second time playing against Miwa Harimoto, she has significantly improved, performed very well today. However it's good to win the match," commented Sun.

Han Ying of Germany, Mima Ito of Japan also made it to the women's singles last eight.

The 2023 Nagoya Women's WTT Finals run until Sunday.

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