Chinese paddlers shine at WTT Champions Incheon
All the Chinese top paddlers have made it to the last 16 as the WTT Champions Incheon entered its second day on Thursday.
In the women's singles, the event's top seed and world No. 1 Sun Yingsha walked away from Japanese player Miu Hirano with three straight sets of 11-7, 11-6, 11-7.
Sun said she was well prepared for this match and found herself in quite good condition. "I just focused myself on snatching each and every point, without giving my opponent a chance to catch her breath," she said.
Meanwhile, China's fourth-seeded Chen Meng took the game 3-0 (11-9, 11-7, 11-8) against French paddler Prithika Pavade. Chen will battle against Japan's Miwa Harimoto on Friday. Chinese player Wang Manyu, ranked world No. 2, eased past Germany's Nina Mittelham 3-0 (11-8, 11-4, 12-10) to also book a place in the round of 16.
In the men's singles, world No. 2 Fan Zhendong bested his opponent Sora Matsushima from Japan 11-5, 11-6, 11-4 in only 16 minutes. Fan will face off against German player Patrick Franziska on Friday to earn a spot in the quarterfinals.
"After I encountered some difficulties at Busan table tennis team worlds, my understanding of the opponent and preparations of the skills and tactics are more specific and clearer," Fan said.
On the first day of the tournament, three Chinese players Liang Jingkun, Ma Long and Wang Yidi had respectively defeated their rivals to secure their places in the last 16.
The WTT Champions Incheon, which kicked off here on Wednesday, marks the first WTT Champions Series event on the 2024 calendar. The world's top players gathered here to battle it out for a prize pool of 300,000 U.S. dollars and the event champions each will take home 1,000 ITTF world ranking points.