Top seeds Sun Yingsha and Wang Chuqin both eased past the opening round at the WTT China Smash. Wang Yidi and Miwa Harimoto were stunned on Day 1.
BEIJING, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Top-ranked Sun Yingsha and Wang Chuqin both claimed victory in the women's and men's singles first round at ease, respectively, at the World Table Tennis (WTT) China Smash here on Sunday.
Despite Natalia Bajor of Poland took an early lead in the first set, the 23-year-old Sun came back to gain momentum and clinched the win 11-7, 11-1, 11-8.
"This is the first time for Beijing to host WTT Smash. I feel pretty good in the first-round match with the warm support from the crowd," Sun noted. "I hope to make progress match after match to further improve my performance."
In 22 minutes, Wang Chuqin pocketed a straight-set victory of 11-6, 11-3, 11-6 over Hiroto Shinozuka of Japan. "When I saw the draw, I thought it would be a difficult match. I prepared a lot and had a stable performance today," said the world No. 1 who will meet Anders Lind of Denmark next.
While in a Chinese derby, third-seeded Wang Yidi lost to 82nd-ranked Fan Siqi in five sets 9-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-7, 7-11.
"I just fought for the win from the very beginning. There were ups and downs during the game indeed, but I am satisfied with myself in dealing with those challenges," said the 26-year-old Fan.
Another Chinese player He Zhuojia upset Japanese prodigy Miwa Harimoto 11-9, 11-2, 11-2 to sail into the last 32.
Also on Sunday, the fourth seed Felix Lebrun of France defeated Poland's qualifier Milosz Redzimski, while Japan's Miu Hirano saw off Indian Sreeja Akula in straight sets.
Staged at Shougang Park, in which the iconic Beijing 2022 venue Big Air Shougang is located, the 11-day tournament kicked off on Thursday features a total prize pool of two million U.S. dollars. ■