(by Steve Hopkins, photo WTT)
Felix Lebrun has been as high as fourth in the rankings in the past, so its a subdued level of surprise to see him as World No. 7 reaching the Final Four of the China Smash this week in Beijing. The more shocking surprise is World No. 9, Xiang Peng who spent most of the 2023 and 2024 years languishing in the No. 20s, unable to break through – but who entered the tournament for the first time inside of the Top 10, and is now announcing to the world that he intends to stay.
Both Peng and Lebrun benefitted from upsets – providing an easier than expected path to the Semifinals than is normal for their seed. For Xiang Peng, he did not have to face Benedikt Duda (who was upset by Feng Yi-Hsin in the first round) – but he certainly earned his position in the Semifinals with a 4-3 win over Hugo Calderano today. The Calderano/Peng match was awkward and filled with streaks. None of the games felt close at the end, with momentum shifts from game to game – but alternating dominance. Calderano won the first game at 3, Peng won the next two at 3 and 7, Calderano then won at 6 and 8 to retake the lead. And then Peng raised his play to another level and won the final two games going away – winning 11-7 and 11-6. Peng is now set to face Wang Chuqin who won his Quarterfinal match of Sora Matsushima easily at 4-1.
Felix Lebrun entered the tournament as the seventh seed and was set to face Tomokazu Harimoto, but because of the great play of Chen Junsong (who upset Harimoto early), Lebrun faced World No. 113 instead of World No. 4. Lebrun has been pushed twice – defeating Chen Yuanyu and Chen Junsong (losing 2 games each time), but he has managed to drop only 4 games in his four matches thus far and should be well rested on Sunday when he faces Lin Shidong. Shidong has only lost two games in his four matches thus far – clearly an eye on the World No. 1 ranking that could be waiting for him if he can win this tournament. The Semifinals and Finals are set for Sunday.
The surprise on the Women’s side was Shin Yubin of the Korean Republic reaching the Top 4 from her position as World No. 17. Like the underdogs on the men’s side, she benefitted from an earlier upset of Mima Ito that made her path easier, but he 3-2 win over World No. 4 Kuai Man was the upset of the tournament. In the Semifinals, Yubin fell 4-1 to Wang Manyu. In the other half of the draw, Sun Yingsha dispensed Chen Xingtong 4-2 to reach the Final. Many and Yingsha will face off on Sunday, just as the top two in the world have done many times in the past.
The Men’s Doubles title went to Lin Shidong and Wang Chuqin – as the best two players in the world teamed up to lose only 1 game in the four matches that they played. Kuai Man and Wang Manyu won Women’s Doubles. Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha won Mixed Doubles, giving Chuqin a pair of trophies and a chance to win a third in singles on Sunday.
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