The host South Korea advanced to the semifinals of the men's tournament at the table tennis world championships Friday. South Korea beat Denmark 3-1 in the quarterfinals at the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) World Team Table Tennis Championships in Busan. By reaching the semifinals scheduled for Saturday, South Korea secured at least a bronze medal. Since there is no third-place match, losers of the semifinals will each be awarded a bronze medal. The ITTF holds team world championships in even-numbered years, and South Korea won men's bronze medals at each of the past three competitions. In the semifinals at the Busan Exhibition and Convention Center, South Korea will face No. 1-ranked China, which will go for its 11th consecutive world title. In the team tournament, each match is made up of up to five singles matches in a best-of-five format. Teams are each carrying five players, but only three players can play in each match. Lim Jong-hoon, ranked 18th in the world, led off by beating 28 th-ranked Anders Lind 3-1 (11-8, 11-8, 9-11, 14-12). Denmark responded as world No. 29 Jonathan Groth defeated Jang Woo-jin, South Korea's top-ranked player at No. 14, by 3-1 (11-9, 11-9, 5-11, 11-3). An Jae-hyun, ranked 34th, handled 387th-ranked Martin Buch Andersen 3-0 (11-2, 13-11, 11-7), putting South Korea ahead 2-1 in the match score. Lim returned for the fourth singles match, now up against Groth. And he exacted revenge for Jang, beating the Danish player 3-1 (9-11, 12-10, 11-6, 11-8).