Singapore’s Goi Rui Xuan Upsets Higher-Ranked Opponent at Singapore Smash for First WTT Win

First day of Singapore Smash action gave local table tennis fans much to cheer for as Singaporean wildcard Goi Rui Xuan defeated world No. 60 Cheng Hsien-Tzu of Chinese Taipei 3-1 (11-9, 9-11, 11-8, 11-8). Qualifier Joao Geraldo of Portugal also recorded an upset in the men’s singles, defeating world No. 3 Hugo Calderano of Brazil 3-2 (10-12, 11-3, 11-7, 10-12, 11-6).

It was Goi’s first women’s singles win on the World Table Tennis Series and the 21-year-old, who is ranked 180th in the world, said: “Before the match, I was just telling myself to try to enjoy the game because the opponent is much better than me and more experienced. I tried to execute my strategy and it turned out I had the upper hand in my service and attack, and made her uncomfortable when I did different serves. My coach also gave me some advice to calm me down, because I didn’t expect to be ahead by such a big gap (8-4) in the last game, so my emotions were running quite high. I tried to calm down and luckily I managed to get the game. My game plan and strategy (for the next match) will be the same as today, because I believe my next opponent will be even stronger. So I think I need to be prepared and try to fight and win as many points as possible.”

Goi’s next opponent is Japanese Hina Hayata, who beat Sarah De Nutte of Luxembourg 3-2 (11-4, 9-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-1). World No. 6 Hayata, aged 21, said: “It was my first time playing against a player from Europe in a while, so there were a lot of serves and receives that I was not used to, but I managed to adapt to her style while on the court and give it my all, which contributed to my win in today’s match. My next opponent is someone whom I have not played against before, so I would like to prepare for it thoroughly and give my fans something to look forward to in the match.”

Two Singapore doubles pairs were also triumphant on the first day of main draw play. Clarence Chew and Ethan Poh defeated compatriots Lucas Tan and Beh Kun Ting 3-0 (12-10, 11-3, 11-8) in the men’s doubles, while women’s doubles duo Lin Ye and Zeng Jian beat Brazilians Caroline Kumahara and Bruna Takahashi 3-0 (11-5, 12-10, 11-7).

Women’s world No.1 Sun Yingsha won her opening match 3-0 against Sabine Winter of Germany at the newly launched Infinity Arena. The 21-year-old Chinese, who won WTT Cup Finals Singapore last year, said: “Singapore is a familiar ground and I think I’ve played here two or three times. Coming back here, I was able to get into the zone very quickly, including getting used to the speed of ball and the spatial awareness. It went according to how I expected. I’m very happy to be able to play amongst top players from around the world. I will treasure the opportunity to compete at every match and I hope I can improve my game as I progress.”

Singapore’s women’s world No. 9 Feng Tianwei lost 3-1 (11-9, 11-5, 9-11, 11-6) to Chinese qualifier Kuai Man, the 19-year-old world youth champion who recently bagged her first senior title at last week’s WTT Contender Muscat 2022. Feng, 35, said: “She knew my tactical game very well and she was very careful playing against me. I think her strategy and tactical game was very good, so it made me feel like she was in control of the whole match. I tried my very best to adapt to the different situations and it proved effective in third game. I think going into the last game, she already got used to some of the changes on my part. I came into this match with the mentality to play and learn from players of the new generation and also to just enjoy the process of competing again. So even though I came in knowing that I was at a disadvantage, I still tried my best and managed to win one game. Overall, it was not too bad.”

The second day of Singapore Smash will see men’s world No. 1 Fan Zhendong and Olympic women’s singles champion Chen Meng in action. Singapore’s representatives include Koen Pang, the reigning SEA Games men’s singles champion, Lin Ye, Zeng Jian and Clarence Chew.

The match schedule for Infinity Arena (Hall 1) on 12 March is as follows:

From 2pm
WS – HAN Ying (GER) vs (3) ITO Mima (JPN)
MS – (WC) PANG Yew En Koen (SGP) vs GNANASEKARAN Sathiyan (IND)
WS – DIAZ Melanie (PUR) vs (WC) ZENG Jian (SGP)
MS – (1) FAN Zhendong (CHN) vs APOLONIA Tiago (POR)

From 7pm
WS – (8) ISHIKAWA Kasumi (JPN) vs ZHANG Lily (USA)
MS – (4) HARIMOTO Tomokazu (JPN) vs JHA Kanak (USA)
WS – NI Xia Lian (LUX) vs (WC) HE Zhuojia (CHN)
MS – (WC) CHEW Zhe Yu Clarence (SGP) vs (4) XU Xin (CHN)

Full results, draws and match schedules are available at www.worldtabletennis.com.

Main draw matches are ongoing till 20 March, with tickets priced from $18. Ticket packages including day passes for the main draw are available from $35. More information can be found at www.sistic.com.sg.