Locals struggle at Singapore Smash as veterans steal limelight

SINGAPORE – For a brief moment, Clarence Chew threatened to turn the tables on China’s world No. 4 Liang Jingkun in their Singapore Smash men’s singles first-round match at the OCBC Arena on Feb 3.

Down 2-4 in the opening game, the Singaporean southpaw won five points in a row with some aggressive attacking shots to put his more illustrious opponent under pressure, especially in the first three strokes.

But, once Liang got into the groove and established his dominance in the rallies, there was no stopping the three-time world championships singles bronze medallist, who won 3-0 (11-8, 11-4, 11-5) to set up a last-32 match against Germany’s Dimitrij Ovtcharov.

World No. 170 Chew, who will now look forward to his first-round men’s doubles match with Josh Chua against fellow Singaporeans Nicholas Tan and Yang Ze Yi on Feb 4, said: “As the underdog, I tried to be more aggressive at the start and it worked in the beginning.

“But he managed to adapt and change his service and receiving which caused me problems. In almost every aspect, he is stronger than me and I couldn’t keep up with the power and angles of his strokes.

“This was a great opportunity to learn from world-class players in terms of how they are able to constantly adapt and switch up play.”

As the large contingent of Chinese fans among the 2,083-strong crowd turned the glowing-red Infinity Arena into a cauldron, there were few reasons for their local counterparts to cheer.

All the Singaporean entries in Day 2 of the main draw were knocked out, leaving only the aforementioned men’s doubles representatives and Koen Pang in the men’s singles and doubles (with Izaac Quek) in the US$1.5 million (S$2.05 million) tournament.

In the women’s doubles, Zeng Jian and Zhou Jingyi lost 3-1 (11-5, 11-8, 7-11, 11-6) to Puerto Rico’s Adriana Diaz and France’s Prithika Pavade, while Ser Lin Qian and Loy Ming Ying were beaten 3-1 (8-11, 11-3, 11-5, 11-6) by Australia’s Liu Yangzi and Germany’s Sabine Winter.

On a day when most of the seeded singles players – including China’s women’s world No. 1 Sun Yingsha and men’s world No. 2 Lin Shidong – came through unscathed, the spotlight was on a couple of women veterans who grabbed the attention despite losing their first-round matches.

China-born Jeon Ji-hee, formerly known as Tian Minwei before she took up South Korean citizenship in 2011, played the final match of her 14-year professional career.

The 32-year-old lost 3-0 (11-8, 11-6, 11-7) to compatriot Shin Yu-bin, who faces Romanian qualifier Adina Diaconu next.

With the result beyond reasonable doubt, the South Korean duo started playing some exhibition rallies which included a crowd-pleasing 27-shot exchange.

It was a fitting end as both players were the top-ranked women’s doubles pair for 13 weeks in 2024, and had combined to win the women’s doubles gold at the Asian Games in 2023.

They were also in the same women’s team who helped South Korea claim bronze at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Former world No. 10 Jeon had intended to hang up her bat at the end of 2024, but stayed on for one last hurrah after being invited by World Table Tennis to make the Singapore Smash her farewell competition.

Jeon, who paid her own way to the Republic and turned down an offer to be a coach with the South Korean team, said: “Playing my last match with Yu-bin felt special as we have had some outstanding performances as a doubles pair.

“However, considering my age and future plans, I have decided to move on to the next stage of my life.

“I am grateful to every athlete and coach I have met in my career, without whom I would not be who I am today.”

While Jeon’s time on court is up, Luxembourg’s evergreen Ni Xialian has shown little sign of slowing down at the age of 61.

The world No. 61, a rare left-handed penholder, gave China’s Qian Tianyi a big scare with her tricky serves and spins, before the 10th-ranked player won 3-2 (12-10, 7-11, 9-11, 11-2, 11-8).

Ni, who won both the women’s team and mixed doubles world title with China in 1983, remains in the tournament. She will partner Luka Mladenovic to take on China’s top seeds Kuai Man and Lin in the mixed doubles round of 16 on Feb 4.

She said: “I will continue playing as long as I enjoy it and my body allows it.”