DORTMUND, GERMANY - The women's teams of Germany and the Netherlands both booked places in the quarterfinals of the World Team Table Tennis Championships here on Thursday.

Supported by the German fans, Germany beat DPR Korea 3-1. Irene Ivancan started with a 3-1 win over Kim Jong (11-8, 11-8, 8-11, 11- 9) and Wu Jiaduo doubled the score by defeating Kim Hye Song 3-1 ( 11-7, 5-11, 11-7, 12-10).

Kristin Silbereisen lost the third match 1-3 to Ri Myong Sun (5- 11, 11-8, 6-11, 7-11), but Wu Jiaduo handed Germany a place in the quarterfinals. She was too strong for Kim Jong (11-8, 11-9, 12-14, 11-7).

"I am so happy we achieved our target to reach the quarterfinals," said Wu Jiaduo. "Of course to bring a medal back home will be even better. Our next opponents are defending champions Singapore, so we will have nothing to lose. We will try our best to play against them."

Li Jie started for the Dutch against Austria and was too strong for Elena Waggermayer in straight sets (11-5, 11-9, 11-1), but in the second encounter the Dutch No. 1 Li Jiao, No. 20 of the world, led a surprising 2-3 defeat against Liu Jia, ranked 65 in the world (6-11, 8-11, 14-12, 11-5, 9-11).

Linda Creemers, the world's No. 144, made up for that loss by defeating Li Qiangbing (75) in straight sets (11-8, 11-9, 11-4). Li Jie decided the match by overcoming Liu Jia 3-1 (11-9, 11-8, 3- 11, 11-7).

"This is a great victory," said Li Jie. "I'm very happy. Unlike other times I started in the first match which gives a bit more pressure. However, I knew that I would win my matches and I was not worried. If we were able to win one of the first three matches I knew we were going to win the match. Now we have to try to get a medal."

In the quarterfinals, the Netherlands will meet fourth seeded Hong Kong. "It will be a difficult match," Creemers said. "But for us it's the best team to play against of those four. We definitely have a chance. We showed that we have a chance against the world champions Singapore (3-1 win-loss) and so we certainly have a chance against Hong Kong."

Coach Chen Zhibin was optimistic: "Maybe everybody thinks Hong Kong is not a very strong team and the Dutch will have a chance to reach the semifinal. I am also confident, but the pressure is on the Hong Kong team."