(by Steve Hopkins)
With all ten of the ITTF Top 10 in attendance, there are no easy matches at this year’s Singapore Smash. In the first round, only one of the Top 10 fell. We have now finished two full rounds in the Main Draw and there is no shortage of surprises.
Ovtcharov was the first top seed to fall – losing 3-2 to Japan’s 21 year old Shunsuke Togami. Since that opening round lost, this tournament has also seen Lin Yun-Ju and Liang Jingkun fall. But the top four seeds all appear in strong shape to move forward – and as the competitive field narrows further, we can expect to see the best of the best battling on the final day.
Two of the best stories of the tournament are how well two of the youngest players have performed. Singapore’s 16 year old qualifier Quek Izaac took out Sharath Kamal Achanta 3-0 in the first round and then topped Mattias Falck 3-2. No player from host country Singapore has ever reached the final 16 in this event – so just facing off against Wang Chuqin in the Round of 16 was a step forward. The other 16 year old in the Main Draw was France’s Felix Lebrun – this is the younger Lebrun brother who plays penhold. Felix topped Simon Gauzy in the first round 3-1 and then blanked Lin Yun-Ju 3-0 to reach the Round of 16. Lebrun will face Dang Qiu in a French penholder versus German penholder grudge match – the two traded wins when the faced each other twice in major events last year.
The final 16 male pairings are Fan Zhendong v. Lim Jonghoon, Togami v. Moregard, Chuqin v. Quek, Gaoyuan v. Jingkun, Calderano v. Jorgic, Aruna v. Harimoto, Felix Lebrun v. Qiu, and Ma Long v. Lee Sangsu.
Many of the major women’s events fall about as expected – with top seeds advancing and often the same 4-6 names reaching the Final Four. This is one event where things have not followed the normal script. Top Seed Sun Yingsha has advanced to the Round of 16 and she will face Nina Mettelham. An upset of Doo Hoi Kem by Joo Cheonhui will provide a Joo v. Ishikawa matchup tomorrow. Wang Manyu will face Adriana Diaz. Suthasini Sawettabut upset Hina Hayata and will now face off against Xiaoxin Yang. Chen Xingtong advanced as expected to the Round of 16, but spoiler alert – that match has already been played and Germany’s Ying Han has taken out one of the top seeds. World No. 3 Wang Yidi was upset by Miu Hirano -Hirano and Rui Zhang are matched up in the Round of 16. World No. 5 Mima Ito fell to Qian Tianyi, and World No. 12 Fan Siqi fell to Jia Nan Yuan – so Yuan will face Tianyi. And World No. 2 Chen Meng fell to Elizabeta Samara – who will take her place against Sofia Polcanova later today.
Lots of quality table tennis on tap all week long – we’ll have more updates soon.
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