Perfect birthday for China’s Kuai Man as she wins Singapore Smash mixed doubles title

SINGAPORE – It was a day to remember for China’s rising table tennis star Kuai Man, as she marked her 21st birthday with three wins in eight hours en route to claiming her first Singapore Smash title on Feb 7.

In her final match of the day, she partnered men’s singles world No. 2 Lin Shidong to come back from behind to notch a 3-1 (8-11, 11-5, 11-8, 11-9) win over Japan’s Miwa Harimoto and Sora Matsushima in the mixed doubles decider.

Her celebration did not end there. Minutes later, the organisers rolled out a birthday cake while the crowd inside the packed OCBC Arena serenaded the sheepish-looking Kuai with a Mandarin version of Happy Birthday.

“Winning on my birthday is really the best gift for me,” Kuai said as Chinese supporters in the crowd bellowed their wishes.

Later at the mixed zone, she added: “For my birthday wish, I simply hope everyone stays happy and healthy.”

The world No. 15 wild card’s day started around 1pm with a resounding a 4-1 (11-8, 11-8, 11-8, 11-13, 13-11) victory over former world No. 1 and Macau’s world No. 85 Zhu Yuling to secure her first women’s singles semi-finals spot in a World Table Tennis (WTT) Grand Smash event.

About three hours later, Kuai enjoyed her most convincing victory of the day by partnering compatriot and world No. 2 Wang Manyu to beat Chinese Taipei’s 2024 finalists Cheng I-ching and Li Yu-jhun 3-0 (11-7, 11-3, 11-8) in under 20 minutes in the women’s doubles semi-finals.

When asked if she had a birthday wish for Kuai, Wang said: “I wish her a blessed birthday and hope she wishes me too after two days (Wang turns 26 on Feb 9, the last day of the tournament).”

Then came the toughest test at about 9pm as she and Lin were surprised by the aggressive tactics of Harimoto and Matsushima, who took the opening game of the mixed doubles decider 11-8.

But the Chinese favourites responded emphatically, with Lin going on the attack and backed up by Kuai’s solid defence, to take the title.

Kuai said of the victory: “I achieved better results than three years ago. Last time, I only played in the singles event, but this time I’m competing in all three. I’m happy to have won the mixed doubles title and I hope to perform even better tomorrow.”

Lin said via a translator: “Our opponents put up very aggressive attacks right from the get-go. How the first game played out was quite normal. We actually envisioned those difficulties before coming into today’s match, so dropping the first game was still acceptable. 

“Our opponents showed very good quality and played very well in the first set. But I thought we adapted and changed our tactics accordingly after that to win the match.”

This was the pair’s first mixed doubles title of 2025. They won four WTT Series titles together in 2024, including at the China Smash and Asian Table Tennis Championships.

Kuai, a left-hander who plays with a shakehand grip, will now aim for two more titles in Singapore to continue her fine start to the year.

On Jan 12, she claimed her first WTT Star Contender singles title at the season-opening tournament in Doha. Five days later, she lost to Shi Xunyao in an all-Chinese women’s singles final at the WTT Contender Muscat. 

The going will get tougher on Feb 8.

In the women’s doubles final, Kuai and Wang will face world No. 6 Sun Yingsha and Wang Yidi, who dominated Bernadette Szocs and Sofia Polcanova 3-0 (11-9, 11-7, 11-8) in the other semi-final.

In the last four of the women’s singles, Kuai will face Chen Xingtong after the world No. 4 beat Japan’s world No. 5 Hina Hayata 4-3 (11-9, 9-11, 8-11, 11-9, 11-8, 8-11, 11-4).

Sun and Wang Yidi will clash in the other singles semi-final after 4-0 (11-3, 11-6, 11-6, 11-9) and 4-1 (11-7, 4-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-5) wins over China’s He Zhuojia and Japan’s Mima Ito respectively.

Kuai’s mixed doubles partner Lin also swept his three matches on Feb 7 to stay in the hunt for two more titles at the US$1.5 million (S$2.03 million) tournament.

In his first match of the day, Lin and Wang Chuqin eased past the top-seeded Lebrun brothers Felix and Alexis 3-1 (8-11, 11-9, 11-4, 11-7) to book a place in Feb 8’s men’s doubles final.

They will face Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yun-ju and Kao Cheng-jui, who defeated France’s Esteban Dorr and Florian Bourrassaud 3-1 (11-8, 11-4, 8-11, 13-11).

Lin then saw off Yun-ju, beating the Taiwanese 4-1 (11-2, 5-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-6) to progress into the singles semi-finals, where he will meet Alexis, who ousted Germany’s Qiu Dang 4-2 (11-9, 5-11, 11-7, 11-8, 6-11, 11-4) in the quarter-finals.

Alexis said on reaching the men’s singles semi-finals of the Singapore Smash for the first time in his career: “Of course, I’m very happy to reach the semis, and I want to continue to win the title or to make the final. I’m very happy about my performances at this tournament.”

China’s world No. 4 Liang Jingkun’s dominant 4-0 (11-7, 11-8, 11-7, 11-4) win over South Korea’s Jang Woo-jin saw him book a last-four berth against world No. 1 and defending champion Wang Chuqin, who beat Germany’s Patrick Franziska 4-1 (11-6, 11-7, 11-4, 4-11, 11-5).