Singapore Smash Moves into the Second Week as Round of 32 Action Continues
More thrilling table tennis contests were on show at Singapore Smash on Sunday (13 March) at the OCBC Arena, as world No. 12 Darko Jorgic of Slovenia prevailed 3-2 (10-12, 11-6, 7-11, 11-7, 12-10) over young Chinese rising star Lin Shidong in an action-packed encounter. World No. 42 Benedikt Duda recorded an upset over world No. 14 Truls Moregard, defeating the World Championship runner-up 3-2 (8-11, 11-3, 11-9, 9-11, 11-7).
Jorgic, 23, will next face Lin Yun-Ju of Chinese Taipei. He said: “I always believed (I could win) from the beginning. But when (Lin Shidong) was 2-1 up, I told my coach I had to change something, I was playing passively and putting the ball on the table, and I had to be more aggressive as well. (For my next match) I will just watch some videos, speak with my coach and try to relax as well, and then we will see. I’ll give my best and try to win.”
Duda, 27, said of his achievement: “Truls is a very talented guy. He improved a lot over the past years – I think four years ago at the German Open, I lost 4-0 to him and he was a junior then; he was also runner-up at the World Championships a few months ago in Houston. I wanted to avenge that loss as I’ve also improved a lot, and luckily I won.”
The German’s next opponent is Swede Kristian Karlsson, who defeated giant killer Joao Geraldo of Portugal with a 3-1 (12-14, 12-10, 11-9, 12-10) win. World No. 62 Geraldo had earlier staged an upset over world No. 3 Hugo Calderano on the first day of the event. Karlsson, the world No. 28, said: “It was a tough match against a very strong opponent — he beat the World No. 3. He seems to be in good shape and it was a very tactical match from both sides. The one who managed to attack and press the balls had an advantage. All four sets were very close and I managed to win three. The small margins were on my side, so I’m very happy.”
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Singapore fans also had reason to celebrate with men’s doubles pair Clarence Chew and Ethan Poh beating the 2019 World Championship finalists, Spaniard Alvaro Robles and Romanian Ovidiu Ionescu, 3-0 (11-3, 11-9, 13-11). Goi Rui Xuan and Wong Xin Ru were also triumphant, defeating compatriots Zhou Jingyi and Ser Lin Qian 3-0 (11-6, 11-5, 11-9) in the women’s doubles.
Poh, 23, said: “We didn’t have much expectation coming into the match, we just wanted to play our game. They were once the World Championship finalists, so we knew we had nothing to lose; we just had to be aggressive and play our game, and I think it worked out well for us.
Day 4 of Singapore Smash will see Singapore’s Zeng Jian take on Olympic champion Chen Meng in the women’s singles. Zeng and compatriot Lin Ye will also feature in the women’s doubles Round of 16 against Ni Xia Lian and Sarah De Nutte of Luxembourg. Men’s world No. 1 Fan Zhendong of China will be in action as well, against Japan’s Masataka Morizono.