Chinese former world champion Wang Liqin had a long breath after he brushed aside the defensive Joo Se Hyuk from South Korea to book a place in the quarterfinals at the ITTF men's World Cup table tennis here on Friday.

Wang, who has a 3-0 winning record against Joo in their previous encounters, showed his determination and powerful smashes, beating the Korean 4-1 (11-6, 7-11, 11-2, 11-5, 11-7).

Wang said, " I was fully prepared to face Joo. My coach and I talked about him last night. My unbeaten record against him also helped me a lot. I knew how to play a defensive player like him and I was confident."

With two victories over Joo 4-1 and Zoran Primorac of Croatia 4- 2, Wang is to enter the last eight for sure as the top two players in four groups move into the quarter-finals while Joo has to wait for the result of the last group match between Kalinikos Kreanga of Greece and Primorac.

If Kreanga finishes the game 4-0 or 4-1 on Thursday evening, he will be the top player in Group C, a so-called Dead Group, ahead of Wang and Joo. If Kreanga ends 4"Defending champion Timo Boll of Germany also has a chance in Group B after he blew past Johnny Huang from Canada 4-1 (8-11, 12- 10, 11-4, 11-8, 11-7).

Boll needs to wait for the match between Alekxei Smirnov of Russia and Chiang Peng-Lung from Chinese Taipei later on Thursday. If Smirnov wins, he goes to the quarterfinals with three victories and Boll will have the best game score compared with Chiang and Huang.

In Group A, world number one player Ma Lin snatched his third group victory over Jackson Peter of New Zealand 4-0 (11-6, 11-7, 11-3, 11-5) and Jean-Michel Saive from Belgium cracked Jackson 4-0 (11-3, 11-2, 11-6, 11-8).

Another Chinese young star Wang Hao needs one more victory in Group D to keep his unbeaten run when he faces Ryu Seung Min from South Korea.

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