In a tense battle between the team mates, Xiaoxia - who was defeated in the final of the last World Championships by Ding two years ago in Rotterdam - held her nerve in the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy to book a place in the final against another of her Chinese team-mates in number two seed Liu Shiwen, who overpowered Zhu Yuling in the other all-Chinese semi-final.

"She played better than me at several key points," admitted Ding.

"We have known each other for a long time.

"I beat her two times before and now it's her turn.

"Facing an excellent player like her, all the results are quite normal no matter the victory or the lost.

"There will be still a long way to go and I will certainly continue to make efforts."

In the men's draw, there were few surprises as the Chinese top seeds remained in tact as they continue their course to the final.

World number one Xu Xin cruised past Portugal's Marcos Freitas, reigning champion Zhang Jike took a 4-1 victory over Robert Gardos and Ma Long defeated Koki Niwa of Japan by 4 games to 2. 

China's world number one Xu Xin secured his place in the quarter-finals

Elsewhere, there was an all-German battle in the men's round of 16 as number seven seed Dimitrij Ovtcharov was defeated by compatriot Patrick Baum, who joins fellow German Timo Boll in the quarter-finals. 

Xu Xin takes on Kenta Matsudaira of Japan for a place in the semi-finals tomorrow, with Baum facing Zhang, Boll facing Ma and an all-Chinese affair as Wang Hao faces Yan An. 

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