RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug. 10 (Xinhua) -- Defending champion Li Xiaoxia went one step closer to make history as the third seed here made short work of Ai Fukuhara on Wednesday morning to book a place in the Rio Olympic table tennis women' s singles final.
There' s no paddler in the sport' s 28-year history as one of the Olympic Games program to have won back-to-back individual championship.
"Ai and I are good friends off court," said Li. "I knew she' s playing very well these two days, so I had prepared to play a full-set semifinal. There' re just six or seven days left in my last Olympic Games and I want to enjoy it thoroughly."
Li beat Fukuhara in straight sets, 11-4, 11-3, 11-1, 11-1.
"My performance was not bad, but Xiaoxia' s better," commented Fukuhara, who' s made her name well known by the world since more than a decade ago.
Leading 9-1 into the first set, the 28-year-old Li denied a late comeback from the sixth-seeded Japanese to win 11-4, before improving it to 2-0 on sets.
Kong Linghui, head coach of the Chinese women' s table tennis team as well as a Grand Slam winner himself, called a timeout for Li when she Led 2-0 and 4-1 in the third set, before the women' s Slam winner came back to the court and just let her opponent win a single point.
"Xiaoxia was the defending champion here and a winner of Grand Slam of table tennis. And I saw her going all out for the game against me and thought that I should do that too and pull nothing back," said Fukuhara.
To the 27-year-old, who upset Singapore' s No. 2 seed Feng Tianwei 4-0 in the quarters, a place in the semifinals has been her best result so far in an Olympic Games as her best result in the previous three Olympic Games was reaching the quarterfinals in London.
"I was under pressure but Xiaoxia, as the defending champion and a member of the Chinese team, was even more pressured," she said. "I have nothing to lose. I really do."
Failing to make the final though the all-time dominating Chinese, Fukuhara kept her nation's hope for a women's singles medal alive after Japan's top female paddler Kasumi Ishikawa crashed out in her opening match against DPR Korea's defender Kim Song I in Sunday's third round.
Later on Wednesday morning, Kim was picked up by twice world champion Ding Ning in the other semifinal with the winner between them going to the final and the other one playing earlier in the evening in the third-place play-off.
Mark Salling has died at age 35 from an apparent suicide.
The former Glee star was found dead at 8:50 a.m. Tuesday morning at a park near his home in Sunland
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In December 2017, he pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography involving a prepubescent minor
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The actor's former co-stars from Glee—on which he starred from 2009 to 2015—as well as his attorney, coaches and friends have shared their thoughts and reactions, expressing their condolences for Salling's family.
Matthew Morrison posted a throwback photo that included himself
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Paris Barclay, who directed several episodes of Glee, also shared a throwback photo of Monteith and Salling. "It's a painful loss, again
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Glee vocal coach Tim Davis also expressed compassion for the family. "Today we lost another #Glee cast member. Yes, he committed crimes against children. Yes, it's horrific. But #MarkSalling was a broken man
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Jane Lynch would also retweet his follow-up message that stated: "Let me be clear. Having compassion for #MarkSalling in no way minimizes his crimes, nor does it minimize the pain and devastation of the victims of those crimes. I'm just saying stop adding to his family's pain. This was their son. If you're without sin
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Finally, Iqbal Theba also known as Principal Figgins simply wrote on Twitter, "Oh Mark."
Mark's attorney Michael Proctor told E! News: "I can confirm that Mark Salling passed away early this morning. Mark was a gentle and loving person, a person of great creativity
nike air force1 foamposite womens , who was doing his best to atone for some serious mistakes and errors of judgment. He is survived by his mother and father, and his brother. The Salling family appreciates the support they have been receiving and asks for their privacy to be respected."(Agencies)
Manchester United racked up their biggest league win under Jose Mourinho against West Ham United a week ago and then matched it again in south Wales on Saturday. Two games, two 4-0 victories and while there is a long way to go this season, there is a lot to be positive about at Old Trafford.
It's been three seasons since Manchester United scored four goals twice in the same season and four seasons since they have scored four in consecutive league games. Those results
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While Paul Pogba might still be hitting the bar - the France midfielder hit the woodwork more times than any other player in the Premier League last season - this time the rebounds are going in. Eric Bailly notched his first goal for the club by poking the follow-up over the line at Swansea City on Saturday.
Bailly has only scored once before as a pro, in the Europa League for Villareal three years ago, but never i.
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