Round 4

Men's

Zhejiang extended its winning streak by beating Sichuan 3-1, with its only loss incurred by Cheung Yuk, 2-3, to penholder Wang Jianjun. PLA won 3-1 over Hebei, losing only the meaningless doubles. Tianjin picked up its first victory by beating Nanjing 3-2. Teenager Hao Shuai, who is becoming a star of the league, won all his 3 outings, including a Golden Ball match over Shan Mingjie 5-1.

Shanghai won its second tie by beating Beijing 3-2. True to form, if someone other than Wang won another match, Shanghai would be almost guaranteed a team victory. Wang Liqin could be counted on to win his singles and the Golden Ball match if necessary. In this tie, Guo Jinhao supplied the necessary win over Liu Heng in a 3-2 thriller.

Luneng demonstrated its firepower by taking out home-team Heilongjiang 4-0. Liu Guozheng and Guo Keli took out Xu Hui and Wang Fei respectively to go up 2-0 in match score. In the critical 3rd, Ma Lin demolished Kong 3-0 to seal the victory.

Guangdong, led by Qin Zhijian, continued its winning ways by overcoming Shaanxi in a 5-match thriller. Ko Lai Chak beat his Hong Kong teammate Leung Chu Yan 3-2 to start things off, then Liu Guoliang tied the score by taking out Tan Ruiwu 3-0. Qin then beat Yan Sen 3-0, and the Liu/Yan pair beat Qin/Ko 3-1 to force the Golden Ball match. Qin won it 5-3 to keep his team unbeaten. Worth noting that Tan Ruiwu was the only shakehand player in this tie.

After 4 rounds, Zhejiang and Guangdong were still unbeaten. Penholders Ma Lin, Qin Zhijian, Wang Hao and Liu Guoliang were all doing well, but Wang Liqin was still the singles player to beat.

Women's

Hebei demonstrated its prowess by trouncing Shanghai 4-0. Gao Jun did not play, and An Konishi losr her singles to chopper Wang Tinging. Luneng won another close tie, beating Sichuan 3-2. Guo Yue continued her excellent streak by winning her singles, as well as the Golden Ball match, in the tie against PLA. Guangdong rebounded by beating Shanxi 4-0, and Liaoning took our Jiangsu with the same score.

Beijing won a close one over Tianjin, and Zhang Yining beat Li Nan 5-1 in the Golden Ball match to claim the victory.

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