No. 1 seed Wang Chuqin of China beat home paddler Koen Pang 11-7, 11-7, 11-8 in the men’s singles second round at the Singapore Smash in Singapore, continuing to progress at the tournament.
Though Koen ranks no higher than 142nd in the world and Wang is No. 1, he causes some trouble for the Chinese ace in the second and third games. Wang admitted after the match that he’s a tough opponent in a best-of-five clash.
Wang will face 15th-seeded Anton Kallberg of Sweden next. Kallberg beat Wang at the World Table Tennis (WTT) Champions Frankfurt in Germany in the round of 16 last year. When asked about facing Kallberg again, the Chinese paddler said that he expects a tough clash.
On the same day, No. 4 seed Liang Jingkun came back to defeat German veteran Dimitrij Ovtcharov 6-11, 5-11, 11-6, 11-9, 15-13 to reach the next round where he will play another German, Ricardo Walther.
On the women’s side, fourth-seeded Chen Xingtong of China swept Shao Jieni of Portugal 11-5, 11-8, 11-6 in the second round. Chen’s next opponent will be Romanian 13th seed Bernadette Szocs.
Second-seeded Chinese player Wang Manyu beat Chien Tung-Chuan of Chinese Taipei 14-12, 8-11, 11-6, 11-3 to reach the last 16 where her women’s doubles partner Kuai Man awaits her.