(by Sally Moyland)

After finishing my last US Adult Team Trials match, I was informed of some exciting news…I had made the list to participate in the 2025 Singapore Grand Smash!

Now I needed a ticket. Mom is the ticket expert in this house so she got busy on that. A good ticket was found and that good ticket was bought. This was the evening of January 26th. The tournament started on January 30th and Singapore is a day ahead so this was a very short notice. Moments after booking the flight, a phone call came in….and it was bad news. I in fact DID NOT make the list and wasn’t going to Singapore. Well, that’s a bummer isn’t it… I wasn’t planning and didn’t expect to go, but after thinking I could go, understanding that it was just a mistake and that I was actually still on the waiting list was pretty rotten news. Well, we canceled the ticket and I returned to the normal stuff.

I was told I still had a chance to make the cut, but they were unsure and I would be notified in no more than 12 hours. I still had hopes but they weren’t high. I went about my next day (January 27th) the normal way. I drove to practice, had practice, and drove back. Now, on the way back Mom gets a phone call. It was 4:30 pm in the afternoon and well past the twelve-hour mark. However, no matter the time, a phone call meant hope. All I remember from that call was a “Hello”, five seconds of silence, and then a “You’re going to Singapore!!”. AHHHHH the excitement!!! CHOLEE! Driving at that moment did NOT help. But we did manage to stay safe as I only celebrated with one hand, keeping the other on the wheel.

I thought a two-day notice was short, and look what we got in the end – approximately a 6-hour notice. After getting home, my only mission was to pack and run to the airport to get on that 10 pm flight. It was a success and I was Singapore-bound!

I’ve been on many long flights in my life but this seventeen-hour one to Singapore was definitely a record breaker, beating the previous twelve-hour record held by the flight to Taiwan. There weren’t many people on the flight since it was during Chinese New Year. So most of the middle seats were empty. Making sure to stay loose and keep my body from stiffening, I got up every few hours to walk around and stretch. It felt great but also a little funny at the same time. You know those uncles, aunties, grandpas, and grandmas who get their early morning exercises at parks? The aisles and areas around the lavatories were the parks. It was pretty cool to be the only teenager stretching. I knew I had to learn from the experts, so I started copying the grandpa to my left…. he had some good stretches, clearly a professional.

Upon arrival, It was the usual WTT procedure. You claim your baggage and find the guy holding a WTT sign. You get on the bus and the bus takes you to the designated hotel. Since we got there in the morning and couldn’t check in until 3:30 pm, we left our bags with the front desk and headed out to find some food.

I expected the malls in Singapore to have strong air-conditioning (AC) like in Taiwan. It was hot and humid outside and I was getting a little sticky. To my disappointment, Singapore seems to save on the electricity bill…

Our hotel was connected to a mall so finding food was quite the easy task. We were a bit early for the restaurants so we swung by the supermarket first. My roommate and I ended up munching on some Cheeto Puffs to curb our hunger. After going through the aisles of that supermarket I concluded that: alongside the Japanese, Singaporeans must be the hardest people to buy gifts for. I mean… they have everything… What could I possibly get them that they couldn’t buy themselves? Gosh…

After having our lunch, my roommate and I headed back to the hotel lobby for the slightly stronger AC and soft couches. We played some cards to pass the time. At 3:30 sharp, we went to get our keys and went up to our room. Some of our teammates went to the venue before checking in but we wanted to settle down before heading out again.

The twelfth floor view was nice but I had no time to enjoy it. I wanted to hustle a shower in before practice. That shower was the most refreshing thing in the past 48 hours. And there was a bathtub! Oh my goodness….paradise.

WTT provided buses to the venue and back every thirty minutes. We hopped on one of them a little later in the afternoon.

The venue wasn’t too far, only about fifteen minutes away, so going to and from was quite convenient. However, I will say that it was one of the most confusing venues I’ve been to. The nicest, but also the most confusing. It took me two days (maybe more) to figure the place out and still I wasn’t confident in opening the doors. It was a maze. They need to put signs on the doors next time!! Please…

The Singapore Smash is a Grand Smash level tournament. It rewards the highest ranking points and prize money in the WTT series. So of course, the venue had to live up to the high scale.

There was a practice hall down a couple of floors with twenty-five or so tables and a warm-up hall next to the secondary competition hall with about fifteen tables. The secondary hall had three tables (2, 3, and 4). And the main hall (the Infinity Arena) had one.

I had a really low ranking (probably the lowest of the lot) so I had to play in the qualifier to get into the main tournament. To fight for a spot in the main draw I needed to win three qualifying matches. Everything was single elimination, you lose you’re out kind of thing. I had no experience with this kind of tournament so I didn’t have any expectations, it was just one match at a time.

My first match came on January 30th. My opponent was the number one player in Serbia and was ranked in the top 100. The match didn’t start out in my favor as I was trailing 2:8 in the first. She was quick and had a good forehand combo. However, I stayed calm and changed up the location a bit. That was quite effective and helped me come back to even it up at nine points a piece. She took a time-out, but that didn’t go well for her as I was still able to clinch the next two points.

The second game was a tight back-and-forth. No one led by more than two points. After deuce (10:10), I managed to pull ahead once again. The first two games went in my favor, by the slightest of margins but in my favor nonetheless. I had strong momentum and was able to utilize it well to finish that third game with a more dominant score.

I started my first Grand Smash with a 3:0 victory. Also, my first senior tournament win of 2025!

Some players had their second round the next day (January 31st). But mine was the day after that (February 1st). And since the main draw was going to start on the 2nd, the qualifying rounds had to finish on the 1st. So if I did manage to win my second match, I would have to play two matches that day.

All the matches used a multi-ball system. I’m used to the single-ball system – we use one ball, pick that ball up after every point, and reuse it. The multi-ball system – where the assistant umpire tosses you a new ball for each point – saves time by cutting the time of rest between each point. When you’re lazy it’s cool, cause you don’t have to pick up the ball. When you’re tired it’s awful, cause you don’t get to rest.

After a day of practice, I was back at it. My opponent for the second qualifying round was the new Indian national champion. Although most Indian players use unusual rubber (pips, anti-spin), this opponent used regular smooth rubber. We had a similar style and this one was bound to be a tight match.

The match started with a bang. We tested each other and fought for each rally. I took the first game and she took the second. She made me fumble at the end of game two, but I changed up my short game in the third and pulled far ahead. At 10:3 it seemed that the third game was mine for sure. However, instead of getting tense, my opponent loosened up, played three crazy shots in a row, and closed the gap to four points. I didn’t take a time-out because I was still feeling confident, and sure enough, I snuck the next point just by her to take the crucial third game. The fourth game was like how it all started, neck and neck again. She pulled up by two points in the endgame and had two chances to drag me into a decider. Yet despite the 8:10 deficit, I fought back four points in a row and celebrated the victory with a silent fist in the air.

I was exhausted after that one. The rallies never ended yet the balls from the umpire never stopped coming. It was just point after point after point. Although my opponent was the one getting warnings about taking too long, I was the one dying. I was just a good actor and acted like I was ready to play… Gotta work on that stamina.

Now was the exciting part. First of all, I had my flight changed!!! I knew my level. So I booked a flight for if I lost my first match. With a tournament of this caliber, it really depends on your draw, and on top of that, your performance. Senior tournaments usually have one to two matches a day, so I extended my stay at the hotel and changed my flight for a day every time I won.

I originally planned to leave on the night of February 1st. But since I won my second round of qualifications, I had a match that night. So, a nighttime flight wouldn’t work. We extended it to the same flight the next day.

I wasn’t prepared to play another match in the evening, so I didn’t arrange for practice and hadn’t looked for a practicing partner yet. I ended up asking my coach to block for me and I was lucky enough to find someone willing to play in the warm-up hall just thirty minutes before I needed to turn in my racket.

As for my third qualifying match, here’s the long story short: Good news; I won it in straight sets and made it into the main draw! Bad news; I had a match at night the next day so tomorrow’s nighttime flight wouldn’t work and I had to change my flight again…

Along with that, I went to the front desk so frequently (for reasons more than just extending my room) that by the end of my stay, I had become well acquainted with the WTT staff down there.

Most first times are memorable, especially getting into the main draw at my first Grand Smash. You never know…Maybe it was beginner’s luck. Anyone know the Karate Kid movie? Remember the kid catching a fly with chopsticks? As Sensei says, “Hmph, beginner’s luck (side-eye)”.

My main draw match was on the 2nd of February. I thought they would let qualifiers rest a day, but I guess not. I practiced in the morning and competed at night. My stamina is still a work in process. Given the state of my conditioning, I think I practiced a tad too much, but I’m still learning, so it’s ok.

I played a lefty from Chinese Taipei for my last match. She participated in the singles and teams event at the recent 2024 Paris Olympics. To my surprise, I started out really strong. I was on top of the shots and earned myself a 7:3 lead. Yet, since I didn’t expect and wasn’t prepared to be in front, I ended up losing momentum and got flustered towards the endgame. After swallowing a tough come-back loss in the first game, I stood firm and bagged the second game to even out the scoreline. Starting from the third game, I could feel that I was getting slower to the ball and couldn’t ramp up any speed for the rallies. Nevertheless, I still did my best. Although I made many mistakes, my opponent also had quite a few unforced errors. So I managed to keep it even throughout the next two games, bringing the score to 2:2.

I started the decider with good tactics but just couldn’t hold on to the first few points. Coming back a few points in the mid-game forced a time-out from my opponent. She came back in strong form and I wasn’t able to grab a single point from her after that time-out. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any good answers and had to drop to defeat with the tight match score of 2:3.

With that, my amazing run in Singapore came to an end.

From the roller coaster of emotions of not knowing if I could go and getting that last minute notice, to the multiple unexpected and amazing wins to the local experiences and even that main draw loss… I’m extremely grateful to have gotten the chance to have a short but fantastic adventure in Singapore.

As usual, the last mission for any trip was to get a magnet. I didn’t find one locally so I got a couple at the airport (usually I get one, but this time I played well so I got myself two). Satisfied with my purchase, I was off for another long, long flight back to the States…

A big thank you to Bowmar Sports – Butterfly North America, Kingbright, my coaches, and my parents. Also to all the amazing staff and players who helped me in Singapore.

Moreover, thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it, and I’ll see you in my next trip report!

Stay “In The Loop” with Butterfly professional table tennis equipment, table tennis news, table tennis technology, tournament results, and We Are Butterfly players, coaches, clubs and more