(by Steve Hopkins)
A pair of American upsets marked the second day of action in the Round of 64 at the United States Smash, the WTT Smash Series tour event being held at the Ontario Convention Center in Los Angeles. Lily Zhang defeated World No. 26 Jia Nan Yuan of France 3-1, and on the men’s side, Kanak Jha downed World No. 14 Shunsuke Togami. Both Americans now advance to the final 32 – Zhang will face Germany’s Ying Han and Jha will face England’s Tom Jarvis.
Lily Zhang started fast in her Round of 64 match. The first game was over as soon as it started – with a big lead and a final score of 11-3. Yuan then fought back for an 11-6 win to even the score. However, it was all Zhang thereafter, winning comfortably at 11-7 and then taking the final tight game 11-9 for the 3-1 win.
Kanak Jha’s battle had a major momentum change in the middle. He pulled away at the end of the first game to take an early lead (11-6). The second game was tighter, with Jha winning 12-10. Togami then dominated for two games – winning 11-4 and 11-7. But in the fifth game, it was tight throughout with Jha winning the final two points for the 12-10 win. The two appeared evenly matched with many long rallies – a good sign for the Jha (and TeamUSA) and he has his eyes set on the World’s Top 10.
The big names are now set to compete in the next round with Wang Chuqin, Sora Matsushima, Felix Lebrun, Lin Shidong, Truls Moregard, Hugo Calderano, Wen Ruibo, and Tomokazu Harimoto all advancing. The only top seed to fall thus far was Lin Yun-Ju who fell to up and coming 17 year old Taipei player Kuo Guan-Hong. Perhaps the bigger story is the lesser known names through to the next round. In addition to Kanak Jha and Kuo, Manav Thakkar, Adrien Rassenfosse, Joao Geraldo, Tom Jarvis, Andre Berelsmeier, and Lilian Bardet are still alive in the draw.
Lots of quality table tennis on tap all week long – we’ll have more updates soon.
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