(by Steve Hopkins)
One of the most exciting runs of the last year was that of Truls Moregard defeating then World No. 1 Lin Shidong 4-3 (11-9) in Sweden at the Europe Smash 2025 to become the first European player to win a WTT Grand Smash title. One year later, fortunes have changed as Truls Moregard was one of the first players eliminated – as this year’s Top Seed fall 0-3 to Dimitrij Ovtcharov.
The first round has not yet concluded – with many matches scheduled for Wednesday. Only two of the top 10 seeds have fallen in the first round – Moregard (World No. 2 and the event’s top seed) and Dang Qiu (World No. 11 and the event’s tenth seed). The Moregard loss was to former World No. 1 Dimitrij Ovtcharov – who now has a favorable draw that could see a deep run for the aging German star. Dang Qiu fell to Csaba Andras, a 24 year old Hungarian. Qiu never looked comfortable and the scores were not close – with Andras winning easily at 5, 7, and 2. USA’s Kanak Jha is scheduled to play Fang Bo on Wednesday afternoon – with the winner set to play Lin Shidong in the Round of 32.
No upsets to report on the Women’s side yet – with most of the big names advancing, and the rest yet to play. USA’s Amy Wang fell to Kim Nayeong on Monday afternoon. Canada’s Mo Zhang fell to Shi Xunyao on Monday evening. Puerto Rico’s Adriana Diaz lost 3-1 to Joo Cheonhui of the Korea Republic. USA’s Lily Zhang will play Manika Batra of India tomorrow afternoon.
Americans had some early success in early doubles action. USA’s Sid Naresh and Nandan Naresh won their opening round match over Botha and Dahlstrom in Men’s Doubles. USA’s Jishan Liang and Sally Moyland defeated Teodoro and Vega in their opening round Mixed Doubles match.
Lots of quality table tennis on tap all week long – we’ll have more updates soon.
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