Site Products
HARIMOTO, Tomokazu

Singapore Smash: Early Main Draw Action

(by Steve Hopkins)

The Singapore Smash’s Round of 64 began today, with half of the round’s action being played on Sunday and the rest on Monday.  Eight players fought through qualifying rounds to join nearly all of the World’s Top 50 in the Main Draw as all begin their quest for the 1.5 million USD in prize money. In early action in the Main Draw, Fan Zhendong topped Fin Luu 3-0, Lin Shidong topped An Jaehyun 3-1, Anton Kallberg defeated Canada’s Edward Ly 3-0, Tomokazu Harimoto defeated Ruwen Filus 3-1, Jonathan Groth defeated Noshad Alamiyan 3-1, Benedikt Duda slipped past Marcos Freitas 3-2, Liang Jingkun advanced 3-0 over Tiago Apolonia, Ma Long eliminated Alexis Lebrun 3-1, Patrick Franziska survived 3-2 over Simon Gauzy, Taiwan’s Feng Yi-Hsin topped Zeljko, Ovtcharov defeated Pucar 3-1, Ionescu won 3-1 over Sareen, Robles defeated Redzimski 3-1, Lin Yun-Ju defeated Gerassimenko 3-1, Mattias Falck defeated Oh Junsung  3-2, and Daniel Habesohn logged an easy 3-0 win over Pang Yew En Koen.

Some of the big names yet to play include Timo Boll, Quadri Aruna, Felix Lebrun, Jang Woojin, Darko Jorgic, Lin Gaoyuan, Dang Qiu, Truls Moregard, and Wang Chuqin.  Looking ahead, Fan Zhendong must play a dangerous Lin Shidong in the Round of 32.  If the top seeds all reach the Quarters, it would be Fan against Liang Jingkun, Ma Long against Lin Yun-Ju, Felix Lebrun versus Lin Gaoyuan, and Hugo Calderano versus Wang Chuqin. There are no Americans through to the Men’s draw, but USA’s Jinbao Ma was 1-1 in the Qualifying Rounds before falling to Ovidiu Ionescu.  Jishan Liang was 0-1 in his qualifer, losing to Marcelo Aguirre. 

Other players of note: Puerto Rico’s Brian Afanador and Daniel Gonzalez each finished 0-1 in the qualifiers.  Aditya Sareen – who lives in New Jersey but plays for Australia, fell in his opening round match to Ionescu – that is the only victory of a qualifier in the Main Draw thus far. On the Women’s side, Miu Hirano upset Hina Hayata in their opening round matchup.  Hayata is the top non-Chinese player in the world at No. 5, so one of the main challengers to the top Chinese fell on the first day.  The other top seeds that have played (only about half of the matches were played on Sunday) have advanced.  Chen Meng, Shin Yubin and Wang Manyu have each moved forward.  On Monday, USA’s Amy Wang will face Maria Xiao of Spain, USA’s Lily Zhang will face Japan’s Miwa Harimoto, and Puerto Rico’s Adriana Diaz will face Hana Matelova of the Czech Republic.

Check in at ButterflyOnline.com for the latest table tennis news and results.

Latest News

#1 Putting time pressure on the opponent with quick attacks

July 1, 2025
[Feature] [Special Feature] America’s star! Jha’s strong points #1 Putting time pressure on the opponent with quick attacks… Read More

Product Validation – Beginner Set up

July 1, 2025
(by: Bowmar Sports) In this Butterfly Product Validation, Brian Pace explain a fantastic Beginner Set-up is you are… Read More

Counter-Attack WITH Control – Harimoto Innerforce Super ALC + Dignics 05 + Dignics 05

June 30, 2025
(by Bowmar Sports) In the dynamic world of table tennis, power often takes the spotlight — but control… Read More

Center of Gravity in Your Stomach

June 30, 2025
WAIT FUNCTION: Serve short backspin or side backspin to Forehand, Robot plays long backspin push to Forehand, Forehand… Read More

Celebrating Excellence: Honored As Canada’s Table Tennis Coach Of The Year

June 30, 2025
(by Coach Raymond/Butterfly Americas) It is with immense pride and gratitude that I reflect on being named *Canada’s… Read More

WTTC 2025 (Part 3): A Gathering of Global Table Tennis Passion – Report from the Butterfly Booth in Doha

June 30, 2025
(by Buterfly Global) In the final installment of our WTTC 2025 series, we share a report from the… Read More

WTTC 2025 (Part 2): Expanding the Circle of Social Contribution Through Table Tennis – Messages Embodied in T-Shirts for the ITTF Foundation

June 30, 2025
(By Butterfly Global) In the second installment of our WTTC 2025 series, we highlight the initiatives carried out… Read More

Smarter Now Doesn’t Mean You Were Dumb Before

June 30, 2025
(By Larry Hodges) This is one of those tips where the title, by itself, should give you a… Read More
View All News

Get the latest from Butterfly

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.