The Mixed Doubles No.3 seed Wong Chun Ting and Doo Hoi Kem have exited China Smash table tennis championships, falling to WTT Grand Smash debutants Alexis Lebrun and Charlotte Lutz in a 8-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-7 defeat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Competing as a pair for only the third time, and second this year, Lutz and Lebrun claimed a major scalp in taking down Chun Ting-Hoi Kem, who have won two WTT Star Contender titles this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The French side recovered from going one down by edging a tight second, but were unstoppable from there, not falling behind once in the remaining two games as they sealed the win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the Women\u2019s Singles, Wang Manyu took another step towards defending her title, beating Manika Batra 11-5, 9-11, 11-6, 11-5 in the Round of 32.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The rivalry between these two is steeped in history. Wang beat Batra at this stage of last year\u2019s China Smash and went on to win the title. However, at Saudi Smash 2024, Batra beat Wang 3-1, a victory that would deny Wang a spot in the Women\u2019s Singles event at the Paris Olympics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Batra, the first Indian to reach a WTT Grand Smash quarterfinal two years ago in Saudi Arabia, went up 0-4 in Game Two, and Wang was left scratching her head as the Indian\u2019s new approach had the former World No.1 on the ropes. But what the best Chinese players do is adapt, and it wasn\u2019t long until she closed the gap to one point, triggering Batra to call her Time Out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While she wasn\u2019t able to enjoy another four-point cushion, Batra kept Wang at arm’s length, and we were back to square one at the end of Game Two. Hunting her 10th WTT title and her fourth WTT Grand Smash Women\u2019s Singles trophy, Wang wasted no time in regaining her lead, but the real test would come in Game Four.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One game away from going out, Batra had to go for it, and she started harassing Wang with topspin-loaded backhands. Her approach was clearly frustrating Wang, and while she briefly gained a two-point lead, Wang wouldn\u2019t go away, weathered the storm and soon found herself with five Match Points, taking it at the first time of asking. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just over 24 hours after Truls Moregard\u2019s thrilling 11 Match Point opening round tie, the Swede was back in action, but this time had an easier time of it against Xu Yingbin winning 11-5, 11-7, 6-11, 12-10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Men\u2019s Singles No.1 seed Felix Lebrun but his tie against Flavien Coton could have easily gone the other way before he clinched it 9-11, 14-12, 11-9, 11-4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the early stages of the third meeting of the season between these two, fans inside Infinity \u221e Arena knew that they were going to be treated to a show, as Game One was glittered with lovely swooping shots from Coton, pushing his compatriot away from the table to come back 2-5 down. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
With the World No.23 drawing first blood, and then coming back from 9-7 down to set up Game Point, Lebrun, the best penholder in the game, was at a pivotal moment: level the match or come back from two games down. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Right on cue, the 20-year-old showed why he is the World No.2 and resisted everything Coton threw at him, saving two Game Points to level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite being national teammates, these two weren\u2019t afraid to show their emotions, cheering every point and stomping the ground in frustration as they fought tooth and nail to get in front. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Coton had his chances to take this game and was leading for most of it until, once again, Lebrun made it count at the game\u2019s most crucial moment. From then on, Lebrun cruised, delivering the match\u2019s most dominant performance to seal the win. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Next up was Women\u2019s Singles No.3 Miwa Harimoto, who, despite facing qualifier Su Tsz Tung, also had to work for the 11-5, 13-15, 11-6, 11-5 win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Harimoto looked to be in cruise control in the opener, but Hong Kong, China\u2019s Su stunned Japan\u2019s No.1 in Game Two, setting up five Game Points. Harimoto brought the match to deuce, but then faced another two Game Points before failing to convert her own. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
That loss was not on the cards, and Harimoto was clearly not happy with her performance, even in Game Three, when she had a six-point lead, and when she closed out the match with six winners in a row, she had a blank expression and greeted the win with stone-cold silence. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Mixed Doubles No.3 seed Wong Chun Ting and Doo Hoi Kem have exited China Smash table tennis<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16387,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[65],"class_list":["post-16386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsbeat","tag-table-tennis"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t