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Chen had to dig deep and fight back to beat Hong Kong's Doo Hoi
Kem 4-2, as she bids to preserve China's undefeated record in
Olympic women's singles.
"Once I entered the playing arena I could feel myself tighten
up. I felt nerves, my body felt a bit heavy," Chen said.
"When I was 2-0 down, although I was quite tight, I was
resolute. I took it one point at a time. At the Olympics, until
the final point, anything can happen. As long as I don't give
up, I can turn it around."
The match was interrupted several times by the umpire ordering
Doo to cover a brand logo on her shorts with black tape, which
kept falling off.
Doo said the distraction did not affect her play.
"I felt my performance was better compared to the last two
matches that I played yesterday. I was able to exert all tactics
that I had planned with my coach prior to the match, and I gave
it my all," Doo told Reuters.
Sun, ranked third in the world, earned a semi-final spot with
4-0 wins in all three matches.
Japan's medal favourite Mima Ito, the biggest rival to the
Chinese heavyweights, kept her run going with a confident 4-0
victory over South Korea's Jeon Jihee.
"I'm enjoying every single match. I'm going to enjoy it to win
it again tomorrow," Ito told reporters.
In the men's singles, Fan crushed 29-year-old South Korean
Jeoung Youngsik 4-0.
"I was able to play a steady match, as I expected. I knew that
it'd be a difficult match since it's against the world's
top-class player who has played at the Rio Games. I made sure to
prepare by making adjustments to my tactics," Fan told Reuters.
The 24-year-old said he had used unusual methods to keep
motivated.
"That could sometimes be striking a pose, or talking with
myself. I do things that make me feel positive on the spot," he
said.
Chen's semi-final opponent on Thursday will be Yu Mengyu of
Singapore who beat Japan's Kasumi Ishikawa in the
quarter-finals. Fan will play Lin Yun Ju of Taiwan.
(Reporting by Eimi Yamamitsu; Editing by Stephen Coates and Ed
Osmond)
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