Defending champions Zhang Jike and Li Xiaoxia reached the men's and women's singles quarter-finals after easing past respective opponents at the world table tennis championships on Friday.

Zhang, twice defending champion and a Grand Slam winner, defeated Belarussian veteran Vladimir Samsonov 16-14, 11-8, 11-6, 5-11, 11-3.

The first set was close and both players felt nervous, but it was Zhang who won big points.

"The first set was very intense. The score changed from 4-3 to 10-8 and then to 16-14. Such a set brought a tense atmosphere to this match," said Zhang.

Hailed by the noisy crowd in the Suzhou International Exhibition Center, Zhang seemed on course for a 4-0 thrashing against Samsonov after claiming the next two sets. But the Belarussian started to open fire from both sides in the fourth, and plus some sloppy play from Zhang, Samsonov won the set 11-5.

In the fifth set, Zhang turned around the situation and once again showed he was in a different league compared to a 39-year-old Samsonov, storming to a 4-0 lead.

The Belarussian called a timeout but it didn't work. Zhang finally clinched the set 11-3 and the whole match.

"Samsonov is a respectable player. But at age of 39, his strength and energy may decline," added Zhang.

Samsonov, a former world number one and consistent world top 10 player, admitted that it was always hard to play against a Chinese player.

"Their styles are different. It was hard to beat Chinese players in the 1970s and much more difficult to beat the young ones now. It's very difficult to fight against China," the Belarussian said.

"I did win a set but it really went very difficult for me. I just played aggressively. If I wanted to win points, I had to risk. I made many easy mistakes and he was better. That's the normal result," he added.

Zhang will next take on Japan's world number five Jun Mizutani for a semifinal spot.

The Japanese overcame some dicey moments to beat Singapore's Gao Ning 4-2 to make the quarter-finals.

In women's singles, China's defending champion Li Xiaoxia was not really tested by Hong Kong player Jiang Huajun before triumphing 11-6, 11-3, 11-6, 12-10.

Li had full control of the first three sets, and the 34th ranked Jiang started to hit stride in the fourth set, but her efforts fell short. Endi

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