Qualifying top seed ousted, home players through at WTT China Smash

BEIJING, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Men's singles qualifying top seed Sathiyan Gnanasekaran suffered a first-round exit as the 2025 World Table Tennis (WTT) China Smash opened at Beijing's Shougang Park on Thursday, while seven Chinese paddlers made it through to the second round.

66th-ranked Gnanasekaran found himself in a 2-0 hole against Italy's Niagol Stoyanov, before prevailing 11-6, 11-8 to force a decider, where the Indian eventually fell 11-3.

Third seed Cho Dae-seong was also eliminated on the opening day, as the South Korean lost to Poland's Maciej Kubik in a five-game thriller, with a 13-11 scoreline in the deciding game.

Chinese players got off to a good start, with seven of eight in action on Thursday enjoying comfortable victories. Xu Haidong, Zhou Kai and Yuan Licen progressed in the men's singles, while Yao Ruixuan, Xu Yi, Zhu Sibing and Yang Yiyun made it through in the women's singles.

Li Hechen became China's only casualty of the day, losing 4-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-8 to Brazil's Leonardo Iizuka in the men's singles qualifying first round.

The three-round men's and women's singles qualifiers will decide eight spots each for the main draw, which will kick off on Sunday.

As the fourth and final WTT Grand Smash tournament of 2025, the China Smash runs through October 5, with five titles on offer, namely men's and women's singles, men's and women's doubles, and mixed doubles.