Chinese paddlers swept all matches on day four of the WTT 2024 Saudi Smash, asserting their dominance in both singles and doubles events. Despite unexpected early exits of four franchise players in the singles category, including Olympic champion Ma Long, the Chinese team remained unbeatable in the latter stages.
In the women's singles, World No. 1 Sun Yingsha advanced effortlessly against Serbia's Isabela Lupulesku with scores of 11-3, 11-4, 11-6, setting up a thrilling match against South Korea's Jeon Ji-hee. Chen Xingtong secured her spot by defeating Team Chinese Taipei's Chien Tung-Chuan 11-9, 11-9, 11-8, while Qian Tianyi triumphed over Austria's Sofia Polcanova 11-7, 13-11, 11-7, paving the way for an all-Chinese quarterfinal showdown.
On the men's side, Fan Zhendong demonstrated his prowess with a decisive 11-9, 11-4, 11-4 victory over South Korea's An Jae-hyun. He is set to face Germany's Patrick Franziska, who overcame Spain's Alvaro Robles in straight games.
In the men's doubles, top-seeded Ma Long made a strong comeback after his singles loss, teaming up with Wang Chuqin to defeat the local duo of Ali Alkhadrawi and Abdulaziz Bu Shulaybi 3-0. They will meet Poland and Belgium's Jakub Dyjas and Cedric Nuytinck in the quarterfinals.
The women's doubles saw top seeds Chen Meng and Wang Manyu breeze past Romania's Elisabeta Samara and Andrea Dragoman 3-0, setting up a clash with fellow Chinese duo Wang Yidi and Chen Xingtong, who also won their match against Thailand's Orawan Paranang and Suthasini Sawettabut.
In mixed doubles, top seeds Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha defeated India's Sreeja Akula and Harmeet Desai 3-0, positioning themselves for a challenging semifinal against Japan's third-seeded Tomokazu Harimoto and Hina Hayata.
Reference(s):
Chinese paddlers dominate day 4 matches at WTT 2024 Saudi Smash
cgtn.com
