American qualifies for table tennis quarterfinals

[August 21, 2008]  BEIJING (AP) -- Wang Chen of the United States has defeated Kim Kyung-ah of South Korea to become the first American in Olympic table tennis history to reach the quarterfinals.

The Chinese-born Wang dropped to her knees after the 4-3 win Thursday and cried into a towel. She won by scores of 11-9, 9-11, 11-8, 10-12, 6-11, 11-9, 11-5.

Table tennis has been an Olympic sport since 1988.

Wang is ranked No. 23 and next faces sixth-ranked Li Jia Wei of Singapore on Thursday night.

Gao Jun of the U.S. was eliminated from women's singles, losing 4-3 to Wu Xue of the Dominican Republic.

 [Associated Press]

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