(by Steve Hopkins, photo WTT)
The top players in the world have converged this week in Singapore for the 2026 rendition of the Singapore Smash. Early action started Thursday with Qualifying rounds where eight men and eight women had a chance to win three matches and then advance to the Main Draw.
TeamUSA had two women in the qualifiers (Sally Moyland and Jessica Reyes Lai) and Ma Jinbao, Sid Naresh, and Nandan Naresh). Of our competitors, only Sally Moyland reached the Main Draw. Sally had a nice run, defeating Huang Yu-Jie of Taipei 3-0, then topping Yashawsini Ghorpade of India 3-1, and finally defeating Lai Chloe of Singapore 3-0 to win her Qualifier. Sally now moves on to join Lily Zhang in the Main Draw where both Americans will be facing German players, Sally will face Sabine Winter and Lily will face Xiona Shan.
Jessica Reyes Lai won her opening match 3-0 over Neda Shahsavari of Iran before falling to 1-3 to Yuan Wan of Germany. Both of the Naresh brothers fell in the opening round of their qualifiers with Nandan falling to Chan Baldwin of Hong Kong 1-3 and Sid losing to fellow American Ma Jinbao 2-3. Jinbao led twice in his second match, but ultimately fell 2-3 to Russia’s Vladimir Sidorenko. Sidorenko won the qualifier.
The Men’s and Women’s Singles Main Draws have 64 players each, and the three doubles events all begin in the Round of 32. That means there are a lot of matches to play in Singapore – with Finals scheduled a full week away (Sunday March 1). Tune in and we’ll keep you up to date as the action progresses.
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