Sun Yingsha hits a shot against Chinese compatriot Kuai Man in the women's singles second round at the World Table Tennis (WTT) China Smash in Beijing, October 1, 2024. /CFP
World No. 1 Sun Yingsha of China came back to beat her compatriot Kuai Man 8-11, 11-6, 11-4, 11-4 in the women's second round at the World Table Tennis (WTT) China Smash in Beijing on Tuesday.
"I didn't prepare well for the first game, but my adjustments helped me speed up and improve my performance in the following three games," Sun told reporters after the match. "I am happy to play in front of so many fans on China's National Day."
Sun's next opponent will be another home player, Liu Weishan, who swept past Chen Szu-Yu of Chinese Taipei 12-10, 11-4, 11-3.
Chinese paddler Fan Shiqi who, like Liu, entered the tournament as a qualifier, continued to progress as well, after defeating Lee Eun-hye of South Korea 11-7, 11-5, 11-4. Fan moves on to face Sakura Mori of Japan, who knocked out 16th-seeded Jia Nan Yuan of France 10-12, 11-4, 13-11, 6-11, 14-12.
China's Wang Xingtong knocked off 11th-seeded seed Sofia Polcanova of Austria 11-4, 14-12, 8-11, 11-4 and will next challenge No. 7 seed Cheng I-Ching of Chinese Taipei, who beat Britt Eerland of the Netherlands.
South Korea's Kim Na-yeong dealt an early exit to ninth-seeded Miu Hirano of Japan 10-12, 13-15, 3-11, 11-9, 11-7. Kim will go up against Hirano's compatriot, sixth-seeded Mima Ito, who defeated 61-year-old Ni Xia Lian of Luxembourg 11-7, 11-2, 11-5.