Chinese young paddler Wang Hao beat Chuan Chih-Yuan of Chinese Taipei 4-2 Friday evening to secure a berth for China in the men's singles final of the table tennis tournament of the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.

The final berth will go to either Wang Hao or world singles No. 1 Wang Liqin, as they are in the same half of the draw and will have to meet early in the semifinals. In the first quarterfinal match played Friday evening, Wang Liqin beat Ko Lai Chak of Hong Kong, China, 4-1.

Both Wang, 21, and Chuan, 23, were among the top favorites for the singles gold in this tournament. Sources with the ITTF ( international table tennis federation) said that the two young paddlers had "represented the most advanced techniques in the sport today".

Wang, ranked world No.4, boasts a unique backhand attack skill with which he could hit the ball in handshake style despite his penhold grip of the racket, while the 5th-ranked Chuan, a handshake fast attacker, is reputed as the "fastest paddler" in the world.

Following a 2-2 draw in the first four games, Wang gradually displayed a better shape and established a firm control of the match. He won the match 5-11, 12-10, 9-11, 11-4, 11-6 and 11-7.

"Wang Hao played very well today and cleared the biggest obstacle in the first half," said Liu Guoliang, coach of the Chinese men's team after the match.

"In the past encounters between the two, Wang had suffered more losses, and he also lost two most recent matches," Liu said. "So today he played boldly according to our game plan, and didn't panic even when he trailed 1-2 in the first three games."

Wang himself said after the match that he had overwhelmed his opponent both technically and mentally since the fourth game.

"I was too conservative while taking Wang's service, which led to my loss today," said Chuan, who looked quite frustrated after the loss.

In another thrilling quarterfinal match, Swedish veteran Jan- Ove Waldner created yet another miracle as he beat European champion, world 11th Timo Boll of Germany 4-1 to enter the last four.

Waldner, 39, had participated five Olympic Games and was singles champion in Barcelona 1992 and silver medalist in Sydney 2000.

He will take on Ryu Seung Min of South Korea, who came back from two games down to beat Leung Chu Yan of Hong Kong, China, 4-2 in the semifinal stage scheduled for Sunday.

Earlier on Friday, China's women's doubles pair Wang Nan/Zhang Yining beat their South Korean rivals Lee Eun Sil/Seok Eun Mi 4-0 to clinch the first table tennis gold of the Athens Games. Chinese paddlers Ma Lin and Chen Qi also defeated Michael Maze/ Finn Tugwell of Denmark to enter the men's doubles final scheduled for Saturday.