More upsets at Singapore Smash as leading seeds Wang Manyu, Satsuki Odo and Shin Yu-bin crash out

SINGAPORE – For a third consecutive day, leading seeds were toppled at the Singapore Smash, as the underdogs had their day at the OCBC Arena.

China’s defending champion Wang Manyu (world No. 2), Japan’s Satsuki Odo (No. 7) and South Korea’s Shin Yu-bin (No. 9) were all beaten 3-0 by lower-ranked opponents in the women’s singles, while Brazil’s sixth-ranked Hugo Calderano also suffered a last-16 exit in the men’s singles on Feb 6.

Wang lost 11-9, 11-9, 15-13 to her teammate, 15th-ranked Kuai Man, while Odo fell 11-8, 11-8, 11-7 to Macau’s world No. 85 Zhu Yuling, who claimed another scalp after ousting Japan’s Miu Hirano (No. 12) earlier.

Likewise, China’s world No. 30 He Zhuojia trounced Shin 11-9, 11-9, 11-5, a day after despatching Japan’s sixth-ranked Miwa Harimoto. She will meet world No. 1 Sun Yingsha next for a place in the semi-finals.

On her exit, Wang, 25, said: “I haven’t been training for a while, so my overall condition isn’t great, but I don’t have any physical issues right now... Kuai Man played really well. I’d like to congratulate her.”

Wild card Kuai will meet qualifier Zhu, a former world No. 1, in the quarter-finals on Feb 7, with Japan’s Hina Hayata and Mima Ito facing China’s Chen Xingtong and Wang Yidi respectively.

Kuai, 20, was pleased that her pre-planned tactics had worked, adding: “It was quite unexpected that I beat Manyu because she’s much stronger.

“She might have fallen a little ill during the course of training, and isn’t doing so well physically… She didn’t train as much recently and isn’t in top condition. Maybe I’m a little stronger mentally today and perhaps I’m a little luckier on court with my shots, still an unexpected win.”

Kuai had stormed into an early lead in the first game at 4-0, but allowed Wang to claw back the deficit. Scoring four consecutive points, Wang levelled at 6-6, but it was not enough as the wild card clinched the first game 11-9. Cheers of “Kuai Man, jia you” (come on in Mandarin) echoed throughout the Infinity Arena as the crowd showed their support for the underdog.

Kuai continued where she left off with a decisive 3-0 lead in the second game, handing quick returns to Wang’s serves. Her advantage was wiped out once more as Wang swiftly regained parity at 3-3. The lead then changed hands a couple of times before Kuai pulled away to win 11-9 again.

In the third game, Wang flew out of the blocks, scoring five consecutive points for a commanding lead. But Kuai eased herself into the game and levelled the scores at 9-9.

Kuai then struggled to gain a two-point lead required for the win as she held five game points, but eventually prevailed 15-13.

Kuai and Wang later teamed up in the women’s doubles quarter-finals, where they defeated Thai duo Suthasini Sawettabut and Orawan Paranang 3-0 (11-7, 11-6, 11-4).

Said Wang: “This was our third match together and we don’t have much coordination yet. However, through the games, we are gradually improving our synergy. Our technical and tactical execution is becoming clearer and more decisive.”

The pair will face Chinese Taipei’s Li Yu-jhun and Cheng I-ching in the semi-finals on Feb 7.

In the men’s singles, Calderano was beaten 3-1 (11-7, 14-16, 11-9, 11-6) by Chinese Taipei’s 12th-ranked Lin Yun-ju, who will meet world No. 2 Lin Shidong of China in the quarter-finals. The left-handed Taiwanese, 23, said: “It feels quite good (to beat a higher-ranked opponent). I played quite well today and that has given me confidence. I hope that I’ll continue with the same form tomorrow.”

The other men’s singles quarter-finals will pit Germany’s Qiu Dang against Frenchman Alexis Lebrun, China’s Liang Jingkun against South Korean Jang Woo-jin and German Patrick Franziska against defending champion Wang Chuqin of China.

World No. 1 Wang, who defeated Sweden’s Anton Kallberg 3-0 (12-10, 11-4, 11-8) in the round of 16, said: “Playing against Anton is very tricky. You cannot afford to be too impatient and aggressive.

“He is a very smart player who restricts his opponent from initiating attacks, and leverages the adaptation time his opponent takes to increase his shot quality.

“Hence, I forced myself not to use some of my technical strengths. Instead, I utilised uncommonly used tactics at crucial moments.”