Lin Shidong (Photo WTT)
Lin Shidong is out of the men’s singles title race at WTT Star Contender Ljubljana, following a shock 6-11, 11-9, 17-15, 11-6 round of 32 defeat at the hands of Yukiya Uda.
With his last title success on the WTT Series coming 16 months back at last year’s Singapore Smash 2025, all eyes were on Shidong heading into the week in Ljubljana to see if that singles drought would finally come to an end.
However, he was bested by Yukiya Uda on Friday afternoon, as the Japanese player avenged his straight games loss to Shidong from China Smash 2025, chalking up a 3-1 victory over the No.2 seed on the second day of main draw action in Ljubljana.
Defeat in his first singles match at the table, this is just the latest setback in a difficult run of form for Shidong , who only recently suffered a round of 16 exit at WTT Contender Zagreb 2026, and will need to pick up the pace ahead of next week’s United States Smash 2026.
Teenage ace Kuo Guan-Hong found himself back amongst the headlines for the second day running, after pulling off another upset 11-7, 11-7, 11-8 win over No.8 seed Benedikt Duda.
Following up on his outstanding opening round victory over Quadri Aruna, 17-year-old Guan-Hong has matched his personal best effort at WTT Star Contender level, and a win over Patrick Franziska in his next encounter would be enough to promote Kuo to his first WTT Star Contender quarterfinal.
There were also a couple of notable upsets in the evening’s men’s singles action, with Alexis Lebrun and Kanak Jha both succumbing to round of 32 exits.
No.5 seed Lebrun twice recovered from setbacks to take Park Gyuhyeon to the wire, but remarkably it was the qualifier who’d emerge with the 11-9, 6-11, 11-6, 6-11, 11-6 win. Meanwhile, Jha, who recently fought his way to the WTT Contender Skopje 2026 final, saw his week in Ljubljana end at the hands of Manush Shah, who won 13-11, 4-11, 11-6, 11-8.
Over in the women’s singles action, German star Sabine Winter chalked up an impressive 11-4, 9-11, 11-6, 11-8 win over Miu Hirano setting up a round of 16 clash with Adriana Diaz, who ousted qualifier Xu Yi 13-11, 11-6, 11-7.
No.4 seed Kuai Man is officially up and running in Ljubljana, navigating a tricky showdown to see off Manika Batra in four 11-9, 7-11, 11-8, 11-7.
But there’s no place in the last 16 for Chen Yi,with the No.3 seed losing out 11-9, 11-13, 11-7, 11-8 to Miyuu Kihara.
Kihara made the women’s singles final last year in Ljubljana, and went into Friday’s showdown with confidence on her side, having beaten Chen in their last three encounters.
That confidence, as it turned out, was very much justified as Kihara made it four on the bounce, weathering a storm early on to defeat the United States Smash 2025 runner-up 3-1.
Next up for Kihara is a clash with one of her Japanese compatriots, with qualifier Sachi Aoki making a name for herself in Ljubljana.
The 19-year-old, who saved four match points against Diya Chitale in qualifying just to reach the main draw, would save another in her round of 16 battle with Bernadette Szocs. At 10-11 down in game four, Aoki found late inspiration to force the match to a decider, where she’d complete the most unlikely of victories over Romanian star Szocs, winning 11-8, 7-11, 10-12, 13-11, 11-6.
All the jubilation Sachi Aoki experienced after the final point began to hit home, as she confirmed her spot in the last 16 of a WTT Series event for the first time in her fledgling career. Now Aoki prepares for a new challenge, with a first-time clash against Miyuu Kihara next on the horizon.
But the same couldn’t be said of the No.2 seeds in the mixed doubles draw, as Hugo Calderano-Bruna Takahashi lost out to Dang Qiu-Sabine Winter 11-7, 11-7, 6-11, 11-8, seeing the Singapore Smash 2026 champions out of contention.
