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 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.
China’s Wang Chuqin (left) and Sun Yingsha justified their top rankings by winning the Singapore Smash men’s and women’s singles titles respectively.
ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
But unlike other opponents, 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.
