FOREIGN FORCES 3 CHINA Ο

Chinese without a title after doubles events, as dominance comes under threat

- David Lee Senior Sports Correspondent

For the first time in 10 editions of the Grand Smash, table tennis juggernauts China find themselves in an unfamiliar place on March 1, when their players begin the final day of the World Table Tennis (WTT) Singapore Smash still looking for their first title.

Three doubles titles were up for grabs on Feb 27 and 28, but it was Brazil, Japan and France who won their first Grand Smash title at the US$1.55 million (S$1.96 million) tournament at the OCBC Arena.

Since its inception in 2022, the Grand Smash has been dominated by China but now the threat posed by non-Chinese players seems greater than ever.

Brazilians Hugo Calderano and Bruna Takahashi started the ball rolling by becoming the first Grand Smash winners from the Americas when they ended the Chinese stranglehold on the mixed doubles event on Feb 27.

On Feb 28, Miwa Harimoto and Hina Hayata did the same in the women’s doubles as they beat Japan’s Miyu Nagasaki and South Korea’s Shin Yu-bin 3-0 (11-9, 11-8, 11-7) in front of almost 6,000 fans.

Harimoto, 17, also became the youngest Grand Smash champion, beating China’s Lin Shidong’s record from 2024, when the then 19-year-old won the China Smash men’s singles and mixed doubles titles.

In the evening session, French brothers Alexis and Felix Lebrun, who are ranked third, beat China’s world No. 6 Lin Shidong and Huang Youzheng 3-0 (11-6, 11-6, 11-7) in the men’s doubles final.