Ai Fukuhara of Japan stops in World Cup quarter-final

The 17-year-old table tennis star Ai Fukuhara from Japan lost to Hong Kong's Tie Yana 4-0 (11-6, 11-5, 12-10, 11-8) on Saturday in Urumqi in the quarterfinal of the 2006 women's table tennis World Cup.

Eariler this afternoon the doll-faced Ai Fukuhara just overcame Gao Jun, one of the most experienced players in the world to reach the quarter-final. And Tie Yana, the third seed, came through the preliminary groups without losing a single game.

Tie finished the match with incredible strong attacks, leaving Ai Fukuhara barely any chance to get back into the game.

"Frankly speaking, I played much better than I had thought prior to the game. Perhaps it is quite helpful that my previous three matches had been pretty close. I am in a better shape than her (Ai Fukuhara)." Tie Yana told the press conference.

Ai Fukuhara finished third in 2005 women's World Cup.

"I didn't have any chance against her (Tie Yana). She is simply unbelievable," Fukuhara said.

Source: Xinhua