Audrey Zarif hit a staggering career landmark at Singapore Smash, beating the qualifier\u2019s No.3 seed Natalia Bajor 8-11, 11-5, 13-11, 12-10 to progress to the women\u2019s singles main draw at the tenth attempt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The French World No 136 was already in uncharted territory when she met her 60th ranked opponent at The Kallang, and had never gone beyond the second qualifying round.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And many would have been forgiven for thinking Bajor was going to take the win, especially after the WTT Feeder Lille 2026 finalist took the first game. But what followed stunned all watching, as Zarif dominated the second game, before coming back from 6-9 down and saving two game points to lead the match 2-1.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bajor came battling back in the third game and took a 1-4 lead, only for Zarif to recover and set up three match points. Things got nervy in Infinity \u221e Arena as the Polish star fought back to deuce, but this night was meant for the Frenchwoman, who progresses to the round of 64.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another player who progressed to his first-ever Grand Smash Main Draw was Vladislav Ursu, who defeated the No.12 seed Harmeet Desai 11-3, 9-11, 8-11, 11-4, 12-10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The World No.132 is competing at a Grand Smash event for the first time, and her Moldovan opponent dominated the first game, conceding for the third time when already on game point, before hitting five in a row in the early stages of the second game. But Desai was chasing a destiny of his own, and rallied to overturn 5-1 and 8-6 deficits to level the match.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The momentum continued to swing back and forth, with Desai\u2019s commanding 2-7 lead falling apart in the third and soon it swas tied at 8-8. Desai recomposed himself and took the game, and was just one more win away from his first main draw, also at the tenth time of asking.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ursu then found the form that had served him so well in the opening proceedings, as he relentlessly set up seven game points and forced the deciding game.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another momentum shift saw Desai control the final game, leading from the outset and setting up two match points, but an unstoppable Ursu sealed it in style, hitting four winners to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Audrey Zarif hit a staggering career landmark at Singapore Smash, beating the qualifier\u2019s No.3 seed Natalia Bajor 8-11,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9730,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[65],"class_list":["post-9728","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\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