Zeng Jian-Ser Lin Qian (Photo WTT)
Local heroes have continued to send shockwaves through Singapore Smash with the wildcard duo Zeng Jian-Ser Lin Qian putting Egypt’s Hana Goda-Dina Meshrefout of the women’s doubles with a 6-11, 11-5, 11-5, 11-8 shock victory.
Goda-Meshref are World No.17 in women’s doubles and the highest-ranked team from Africa. Jian-Lin Qian on the other hand, are World No.120 but seem to have destiny on their side as Singaporean players continue to cause huge upsets at their home event.
As has been the case so far in The Kallang, the Singaporeans started with their backs against the wall as Goda-Meshref opened up a five-point lead to set up game point. But that was about as tough as it got for the duo, who didn’t go behind once in the next two games.
They were also leading for most of the final game, and when 8-5 up, looked to be home and dry. A late charge by the Egyptians brought it level at 8-8 as they did everything in their power to force a final game, but it wasn’t to be, and three winners on the bounce saw Jian-Lin Qian seal it to rapturous applause.
It was Lin Qian’s Ser’s second win at the competition, after she beat Mo Zhang in the singles moments after Clarence Chew-Josh Chua upset Lubomir Pistej-Jakub Zelinka in the men’s doubles round of 32.
The home crowd nearly saw another major upset, with Koen Pang falling just shy in his opening showdown with Patrick Franziska before losing 5-11, 12-10, 11-8, 9-11, 8-11..
Pang threatened to kick the party into overdrive after locking up a shock 1-2 lead against one of the world’s best players in Franziska.
It appeared to be written in the stars that Pang would achieve the unthinkable, reeling off four points on the bounce to pull level at 7-7, having been 7-3 down in game four. With the scores advancing to 9-9, Pang sat just two points away from victory as anticipation ramped up inside the arena.
But it wasn’t to be. Instead, the party would be crashed by Franziska, who dug deep to reverse the tide.
Franziska wasn’t the only high-profile European player who encountered stern resistance with Truls Moregard coming under all kinds of pressure from Cho Seungmin.
Dropping the opening game by a three-point margin, the Europe Smash – Sweden 2025 champion came mightily close to dropping the second as well, facing three game points at the business-end of the game. But Moregard successfully weathered the storm, and would eventually find his groove, punishing Seungmin’s missed opportunities in devastating fashion to win 8-11, 15-13, 11-6, 11-8.
Capping the evening in style, women’s singles top seed Sun Yingsha launched her title defence late into the night, picking up a 11-2, 7-11, 11-5, 11-6 win over Orawan Paranang.
Yingsha didn’t have it all her own way on Infinity ∞ Arena as Paranang gave her a good run for her money, particularly in game two, putting her name on the scoreboard. However, Yingsha would prove too hot to handle, the Chinese superstar producing scorching hot table tennis in the following two games to safely bank her spot in the last 32.
Elsewhere, Lily Zhang looked to replicate her run to the last 16 by opening her account with a 12-10, 11-9, 11-4, 11-8 win over Xiaona Shan.
On another day, Zhang could have found herself two games down and with a mountain to climb, as she overturned a 3-9 scoreline to win the first. The American was then behind for most of the second, but threatened to come back by saving one Game Point before the World No.61 took it.
Zhang, ranked World No.44, dominated the third, setting up eight Game Points as she looked to end this one as quickly as she could. She stopped the match going to a decider by taking five of the last six points at the end of Game Four.
Fresh off the back of reaching the final of WTT Star Contender Chennai 2026, Thibault Poret played his part in one of the most entertaining matches of the day, beating Japan’s Yukiya Uda 7-11, 11-7, 11-9, 6-11, 12-10.
Poret came close to losing the tie, as Uda saved match point to stay alive. But Uda’s hope was short-lived as the French star quickly got the two points needed to progress to the round of 32.
