China took all its top players off the mixed doubles list, deliberately making the event the most open one in the world table tennis championships. The pingpong superpower, which has promised the International Table Tennis Federation to help the rest of the world to catch up, sent young players to the mixed doubles competition, offering a chance to medal-hungry teams.

Theoretically, Chinese are not the strongest in the event, with Hao Shuai and Chang Chenchen being top-seeded Chinese who stand at fifth.

The reality was that Chinese swept all the semifinal berths on Saturday morning.

Hao and Chang edged out No. 1 seeded Hong Kong pair Ko Lai Chakand Tie Yana 11-6, 11-9, 12-10, 8-11, 11-5, joining Zhang Jike/Mu Zi, Li Ping/Cao Zhen and Zhang Chao/Yao Yan in the last four.

The semifinal winners Saturday evening were Zhang/Mu and Li /Cao.

Chinese players Li Ping/Cao Zhen (L) compete during the mixed doubles quarterfinal match against compatriots Xu Xin/Fan Ying at the World Table Tennis Championships in Yokohama, Japan, May 2, 2009. Cao and Li won 4-0.

"It's boring," said Xu Yinsheng, China's former IITF president. "I love to see Chinese vs non-Chinese game." Wang Liqin and Guo Yue, twice mixed doubles winners, skipped the event. So did Wang Hao and Zhang Yining, seeded first in the men's and women's singles respectively.

Gennaro Bozza, a veteran reporter with the Italian newspaper LaGazzetta dello Sport, told Chinese newspapers earlier this week that he believed China wanted to send out the mixed doubles as a gift.

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