Wang Chuqin, Sun Yingsha extend Grand Smash supremacy with singles victories in Singapore

SINGAPORE – After non-Chinese players swept all three doubles titles at the US$1.55 million (S$1.96 million) Singapore Smash, China’s superstars reaffirmed their supremacy in the singles events on March 1, with top-ranked Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha claiming the men’s and women’s crowns respectively.

Undoubtedly the crowd favourites as frenzied shrieks followed their every point, Sun beat teammate and world No. 2 Wang Manyu 4-2 (11-8, 11-9, 7-11, 6-11, 12-10, 11-9) to retain her title, while Chuqin swept eighth-ranked Taiwanese Lin Yun-ju 4-0 (11-3, 11-8, 11-8, 11-9) in front of around 6,000 supporters at the OCBC Arena.

With their fifth Grand Smash singles titles, both champions extended their dominance as the most successful male and female athletes in World Table Tennis (WTT) Majors history – Chuqin has racked up 16 Grand Smash titles while Sun has won 13 – and pocketed US$100,000 in prize money each.

While Sun received much of the crowd’s backing in the all-China women’s singles final, it was a keenly contested battle on the table between familiar friends and foes in their 30th meeting.

Proving she has fully recovered from the ankle injury sustained at the WTT Finals in December 2025, the 25-year-old surged to a two-game lead.

But no one has beaten Sun more than world No. 2 Manyu, even if she now trails 20-10 in their head-to-head record. Still, she made adjustments and levelled the match at 2-2 with her fast-looping forehands and backhands to shush the partisan crowd.

She had the defending champion on the ropes when she led 10-7 in the fifth game, but Sun showed why she is the planet’s most formidable women’s singles player with a win rate of around 90 per cent. Staying focused despite a Manyu timeout at 10-9 down, Sun equalised despite two lets and one net cord before winning the game and she went on to clinch the match.

Post-match, Sun – who had earlier beaten Thailand’s Orawan Paranang (3-1), Romanian Elizabeta Samara (3-1), compatriot Shi Xunyao (3-1), Hina Hayata (4-2) of Japan, and teammate Chen Yi (4-1) – said: “We are teammates and rivals who grew up together and know each other very well, and we have played each other so many times in finals.

“Today, we played our best table tennis, and I think it was one of the highest-quality women’s singles matches in the current era. After I led 2-0, she made some tactical adjustments and caught up.

“Even though I was down in the fifth game, I put it all behind me and tried to look for opportunities, and winning the fifth game proved to be the turning point.”

She also thanked her team for helping her recover, adding: “I don’t feel restricted by my ankle any more.”

If Sun is the queen of table tennis, then Chuqin must be the undisputed king as he steamrolled past Lin, extending his win-loss record over the Taiwanese to 11-3 as Lin only briefly threatened in the last game when he led 5-2 and 8-7 in the battle of southpaws.

He said: “Lin is a world-class player and I didn’t expect this scoreline. We have played each other since young and have beaten each other before, and it often is a matter of who performs best on the day, and I’m happy with my execution today.

“Throughout this tournament, there were occasions when I was trailing but I managed to pull through each time, and I think my ability to handle such pressure is better than before.”

While the 25-year-old eased to victory with his torrent of aggressive shots, he said that he was also relieved to finish as champion after a long tournament, and expressed gratitude to the national team for giving him time off competitions in January to recharge and go back to the table motivated.

In return, he overcame Australian Finn Luu (3-0), Japan’s Shunsuke Togami (3-0), Anders Lind (3-1) of Denmark, South Korea’s Jang Woo-jin (4-0), Frenchman Felix Lebrun (4-1) and Lin at the Singapore Smash.

This kept up his record of winning at least one title in each of the nine Grand Smash events he has competed in since the top-tier tournaments’ inception in 2022, missing only the 2025 Europe Smash because of his master’s degree examinations at Peking University.

Chuqin said: “An athlete’s professional career is very short, and I want to keep creating better results to surpass my previous self.”

Acknowledging the shrieking fans who chanted his name throughout, he added: “I’m grateful to everyone who has travelled near and far to watch me play and cheer me on... I hope I have more opportunities like this to thank you all.”