Dark Horse Hirano shocks Chinese paddler Zhu out of Asian champs

WUXI, East China, April 15 (Xinhua) -- Japanese teenager Miu Hirano continued her giant-killing run at the 2017 Asian table tennis championships, shocking out world No. 2 Zhu Yuling 3-0 to reach women's singles final here on Friday.

Trailing 6-3, 8-4 in the second set after taking the first, Hirano played a 7-1 run with her powerful serves and forehand, before improving a 10-8 lead in the third set and wrapping up the match 11-7, 11-9, 11-8.

The world No. 11, who turned 17 years old Thursday, had produced the arguably biggest upset in the quarterfinals, beating Olympic and world champion Ding Ning 3-2 to make semis, a best ever birthday gift to herself.