Site Products
Zha Wenting Captures Women’s Singles Title at Butterfly LA Open

Zha Wenting Captures Women’s Singles Title at Butterfly LA Open

Zha Wenting Captures Women’s Singles Title at Butterfly LA Open

by Barbara Wei

Offering $2,000 in prize money for first place, the women’s singles event at the 2016 Butterfly LA Open attracted some of the best female players and player-coaches in the west coast. Top seed in the event, Tang Liying, defending 2014 and 2015 LA Open singles champion, headed the seeding list and looked to win the championship title again. However, in the hotly contested semi-final, a very determined Zha Wenting charged to a 2-0 lead against Tang before letting the match slip away to 2-2. In the fifth and final game, both Zha and Tang were neck and neck until the end when leading 10-8 Zha served a top spin serve that Tang pushed long.

In the final, Zha would face Grace Yang, 2016 USA Junior Girls team member and Los Angeles native, who had an amazing string of matches to reach the final. Grace, seeded 7th in the Women’s event, reached the final through a series of hard fought and very close matches. First in her quarter-final she won a close 11-9 in the fifth match against 6th seed Chi Ge before facing 2nd seed Li Ruini in the semifinal. With the hometown Los Angeles crowd cheering her on, Grace pulled off the upset to win 3-1 over Li and book her place into the Women’s singles final.

Although Grace played some phenomenal rallies in the Women’s final, Zha was too consistent and won the match in straight games. Zha was all smiles as she claimed the 2016 Butterfly Women’s Single title and will be eager to defend it at next year’s event.

Continual coverage of the LA Open and stories about the athletes will be available at ButterflyOnline.com, or via Butterfly North America’s Twitter and Facebook pages.

Latest News

 Focus on the Left Stomach Muscle

October 9, 2025
(by Bowmar Sports) Serve, Short game and attack with Wait function: Jhon serves short backspin, robot plays short… Read More

Angel Naranjo – Power Backhand & Forehand Counterlooping

October 9, 2025
(by: Bowmar Sports) In this Butterfly Training Tips, Angel Naranjo is executing Forehand and Backhand Power Counterloops https://youtu.be/cBRCXi7VuLU… Read More

 Focus on the Left Stomach Muscle

October 8, 2025
(by Bowmar Sports) Serve, Short game and attack with Wait function: Jhon serves short backspin, robot plays short… Read More

Hong Lin – Reversed Penhold Backhand Flip

October 8, 2025
(by: Bowmar Sports) In the Butterfly Training Tips, Hong Lin is executing the Reversed Penhold Backhand Flip from… Read More

Kou Lei – FH & BH Attacks Speedplay

October 7, 2025
(by: Bowmar Sports) In this Butterfly Training Tips, Kou Lei is working with a young player on Forehand… Read More

Tip of the Week – Nullify Opponent’s Biggest Threat

October 6, 2025
By Larry Hodges, Member of US Table Tennis Hall of Fame, www.tabletenniscoaching.com/blog What does your opponent do that… Read More

Taiwo Adeyinka – Atlanta Open

October 6, 2025
(by: Bowmar Sports) In this Butterfly Training Tips,  Taiwo Adeyinka is in action at the Atlanta Open https://youtu.be/GnVWdEKsAcw… Read More

MLTT Week 3 Recap: Portland Paddlers Shine at Home

October 5, 2025
(By Steve Hopkins, photo MLTT) Major League Table Tennis brought its high-octane  format to the Pacific Northwest this… 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.