Singapore Smash: China table tennis women sweep last-4 spots, Frenchman spoils men’s party
Last two Japanese players fall, while Alexis Lebrun, who won a team bronze at the Paris Olympics, is only non-Chinese singles player left
The revival of Japan’s Mima Ito turned out to be a short-lived one as she fell at the second Chinese hurdle at the World Table Tennis Singapore Smash on Friday.
Just over 24 hours after beating Qian Tianyi of China for the first time in two years, Ito plunged to defeat in the quarter-final, to another Chinese player, Wang Yidi, who has now beaten the Japanese for the six straight time since 2021.
Wang and Ito split the first two games before the world No 3 Chinese took the next three games for an impressive 4-1 win to seal a spot in the semi-final, where she will face Sun Yingsha, who beat compatriot He Zhuojia 4-1.
Earlier, another Japanese player, Hina Hayata, also bowed out at the Singapore Sports Hub, losing a nail-biting seven-game encounter with China’s Chen Xintong.
With Kuai Man also breezing past Zhu Yuling of Macau – who used to represent China and was ranked as high as world No 1 – in a commanding 4-1 win, China have sealed all four women’s singles semi-finals slots.
China’s dominance was not as complete in the men’s singles, with Frenchman Alexis Lebrun joining three top-ranked Chinese players in the semi-finals after beating Qiu Dang of Germany 4-2.
