S’pore’s Zeng Jian slays Japan’s world No. 13 Satsuki Odo at World Table Tennis Champions Montpellier
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Singapore’s Zeng Jian celebrates after eliminating Japan’s world No. 13 and defending champion Satsuki Odo from the WTT Champions Montpellier women’s singles event.
PHOTO: WORLD TABLE TENNIS
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- Singapore's world No. 40 Zeng Jian defeated Japan's defending champion and 13th-ranked Satsuki Odo 3-2 at the World Table Tennis Champions Montpellier.
- Zeng will face another Japanese Honoka Hashimoto next, aiming to learn and improve after five previous losses in which she claimed only one game.
- Other upsets in the tournament included Kanak Jha defeating men's singles top seed Hugo Calderano and Bernadette Szocs beating women's singles top seed Chen Xintong.
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SINGAPORE – Keeping up her giant-killing streak, Singapore’s Zeng Jian eliminated Japan’s world No. 13 and defending champion Satsuki Odo from the World Table Tennis (WTT) Champions Montpellier women’s singles on Oct 29.
The world No. 40 ground out a gritty 3-2 (8-11, 11-9, 12-10, 10-12, 11-2) first-round win on an opening day of upsets at the US$500,000 (S$650,000) event at Montpellier’s Sud de France Arena.
Zeng, who had lost twice to the 21-year-old earlier in 2025, told The Straits Times: “Before the match, I was unsure if I could beat her. I just gave it my all, and I’m very happy to be able to play well and get the win.”
The 28-year-old will take on another higher-ranked Japanese player – world No. 10 Honoka Hashimoto – in the round of 16 on Oct 31, after the 27-year-old overcame Australia’s 29th-ranked Liu Yangzi 3-1 (9-11, 11-2, 11-7, 11-8) in the first round.
“I’ll be playing against a top chopper next and I’ve never beaten her before,” added Zeng, who has taken just one game off Hashimoto in five previous meetings. “But this will be a good learning opportunity and I will give my all to play as well as I can.”
Since leading Singapore to a joint-bronze
On Oct 24, she bagged the biggest of win of her career by stunning Japan’s world No. 9 Mima Ito
She followed up with victory over Hong Kong’s Doo Hoi Kem (ranked 40th then) to reach the quarter-finals, where she lost to Japan’s Hina Hayata, who was ranked 14th then.
In Montpellier, Zeng was in defiant mood again and showed her capability to withstand her more illustrious opponent’s formidable backhand and compete in extended rallies.
Following a straightforward loss in the first game, she held her nerve after squandering three game points to level the match at 1-1.
She really showed her mettle in the third game when she saw her 7-2 advantage turn into a 9-10 deficit, but hung on to claim the next three points.
Next, she dug herself out of a 0-6 hole in the fourth game to make it 10-10, but Odo looked to have turned the tide in her favour by forcing a fifth game.
Zeng had the last laugh with a dominant decider, however, and let out a roar after her rival’s backhand return clipped the net and sailed long. With this triumph, she reduced her head-to-head deficit against Odo to 2-3, with her previous win coming in a 4-1 victory in their first encounter in 2019.
National women’s coach Jing Junhong said: “We are very happy to see her achieve such breakthroughs.
“When we first started working together, she had quite a few problems in her technique and we told her she had to be brave and make adjustments if she wanted to have a breakthrough.
“It hasn’t been easy and there were slumps where we had to encourage her. These wins come from an accumulation of practice and experience from competitions and are a sign that what we have worked on are taking effect.”
Elsewhere in the tournament, more seeds fell.
In the men’s singles, 24th-ranked American Kanak Jha stunned top seed and world No. 3 Hugo Calderano 3-2 (4-11, 13-11, 6-11, 11-9, 11-9).
Germany’s 19th-ranked Patrick Franziska also upset China’s world No. 9 Xiang Peng with a 3-2 (10-12, 11-3, 5-11, 11-8, 11-8) win, while 12th-ranked Qiu Dang swept world No. 8 Benedikt Duda 3-0 (11-5, 11-4, 11-8) in an all-German battle.
Similarly in the women’s singles, China’s top seed and world No. 3 Chen Xingtong lost 3-0 (11-7, 12-10, 11-2) to Romania’s 19th-ranked Bernadette Szocs.
Another top Chinese player, world No. 4 Kuai Man, also bowed out after a 3-2 (11-8, 5-11, 6-11, 11-6, 11-5) defeat by South Korea’s 36th-ranked Kim Na-yeong.
Meanwhile, Ito suffered another early exit after losing 3-2 (11-9, 5-11, 3-11, 11-9, 11-9) to 31st-ranked Romanian Elizabeta Samara.
