Local table tennis players cause upsets on first day of Singapore Smash

SINGAPORE – Coming into the first day of the World Table Tennis (WTT) Singapore Smash main draw on Feb 22, local hopeful Ser Lin Qian knew she had a mountainous task facing Canada’s world No. 58 Zhang Mo in the women’s singles round of 64.

But the 126th-ranked Singaporean had come prepared, practising with national women’s coach Jing Junhong who used a bat with a forehand pimple set-up to mimic Zhang’s style and shots.

The teenage wild card eventually came from behind to claim the biggest scalp of her fledgling career, beating Zhang 3-2 (11-5, 13-15, 9-11, 12-10, 12-10) at the OCBC Arena at The Kallang.

The 19-year-old, who was emotional after the match, said: “When it was 10-10 (in the final game), it was so intense, and knowing myself, (when) playing such crucial points, I was actually very nervous.

“I couldn’t believe it, like I actually managed to trust myself to execute and win the game, so the emotions got the better of me after the game.

“I think every win, there’s no big or small, even a loss is a very treasurable experience, and it’s my first win of a Singapore Smash.”

The win propelled Ser to the tournament’s last 32 for the first time in her career, having fallen in the first round or qualifiers previously.

She will next face China’s world No. 8 Chen Yi, who beat 32nd-ranked Sofia Polcanova of Austria 3-1 (9-11, 11-5, 11-7, 14-12).

Jing said via a translator: “What’s positive is that even in such a difficult situation (in the final game), she gained confidence and believed in herself.

“Before the match, we made thorough preparations in terms of tactics and strategy as her opponent is very experienced, and she approached the match with a fighting spirit. This is one of her biggest victories.”

In another upset by home hopefuls, world No. 104 men’s doubles duo Clarence Chew and Josh Chua twice came from behind to beat 18th-ranked pair Lubomir Pistej and Jakub Zelinka of Slovakia 3-2 (3-11, 13-11, 8-11, 11-8, 11-6) in the round of 32.

Chua said: “I think we did an amazing job to adapt very well in the game. We played them before, and we lost 3-1, and the (games) weren’t that close.”

The Singaporean duo will have a tough challenge in the round of 16 on Feb 24 as they will face China’s world No. 6 Lin Shidong and Huang Youzheng.

In other matches involving Singaporeans, world No. 33 Zeng Jian fell 3-0 (11-3, 11-4, 11-1) to China’s second-ranked Wang Manyu in the women’s singles.

Zeng, 29, said: “This is the first time that I played against her and I truly felt her prowess, so I’m okay to accept any result. She is an all-rounder without many obvious weaknesses.”

Wang, who won the women’s singles title in 2024 and the women’s doubles title in 2025, will face 19th-ranked Cheng I-ching of Chinese Taipei for a place in the round of 16.

She said: “No matter how many events I’m playing in, I’ll make sure to do my due diligence and prepare well for the tournament, and will play my best.”

In the mixed doubles, the world No. 179 duo of Izaac Quek and Ser fell 3-0 (11-7, 11-8, 11-8) to Germany’s Qiu Dang and Sabine Winter.

Quek then lost 3-1 (11-4, 11-6, 9-11, 11-8 ) to Japan’s seventh-ranked Sora Matsushima in their men’s singles round-of-64 match.

Quek, who will now shift his focus to the men’s doubles with Koen Pang, said: “Koen and I will want to try our best in the doubles event. I think both of my events today were quite difficult matches.

“The opponents were really strong but I think that I should just keep my head up and just focus on my doubles.”

Pang and Quek, who are the men’s doubles world No. 4, received a bye and will either face Romanian pair Ovidiu Ionescu and Eduard Ionescu or Argentina’s Horacio Cifuentes and Santiago Lorenzo in the round of 16 on Feb 24.

When asked whether they feel pressure coming in as world No. 4, Pang said: “I’m just taking every match like we are underdogs, because even though our doubles pairing is good, with everyone’s technical and tactical prowess, every match would not be easy.”

SEA Games mixed doubles champions, 31st-ranked Pang and Zeng then came from behind to beat world No. 22 Nicholas Lum and Liu Yangzi of Australia 3-1 (9-11, 11-6, 11-2, 11-6). They will met India’s Manush Shah and Diya Chitale next on Feb 23.

Elsewhere, it was victory for the big guns as men’s singles world No. 1 Wang Chuqin of China set up a round-of-32 clash with Japan’s 19th-ranked Shunsuke Togami after a 3-0 (11-2, 11-9, 11-8) win over Australia’s 39th-ranked Finn Luu.

In the women’s singles, China’s third-ranked Chen Xingtong and world No. 6 Miwa Harimoto of Japan also advanced to respective last-32 encounters with Australia’s Constantina Psihogios (79th) and Egypt’s Hana Goda (27th) on Feb 24.

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