SINGAPORE – A day after he conducted a meet-and-greet with players from Singapore’s junior development and youth training squads, Chinese prodigy Lin Shidong dished out a table tennis masterclass as he beat world No. 1 Fan Zhendong on March 12.
He will next face Germany’s former world No. 1 Timo Boll at the US$1.5 million (S$2 million) tournament for a spot in the quarter-finals.
In a day of seismic shocks in the men’s singles, Germany’s world No. 25 Patrick Franziska also stunned another Chinese great, knocking out 2022 and 2023 finalist Ma Long 3-2 (6-11, 11-9, 4-11, 12-10, 11-5). He plays compatriot and doubles partner, 15th-ranked Dimitrij Ovtcharov next.
The 18th-ranked Lin had never progressed beyond the men’s singles round of 32 at the Singapore Smash but found a new level at the OCBC Arena as he beat two-time defending champion Fan 3-1 (11-6, 11-2, 9-11, 11-6).
Lin, 18, views the 27-year-old Fan as his idol and big brother within the Chinese set-up. He said: “While I didn’t expect to win, I played to win. I prepared well and played better than my usual levels and produced some unbelievable shots.
“I took the initiative and the key to winning was my first three strokes, variation between diagonals and down-the-line shots, and scoring through my backhand.”
Born to parents who run a spare rib soup eatery in Hainan, a two-year-old Lin would follow his father, who enjoyed ball sports such as table tennis, badminton and volleyball.
At seven, his father brought him to the Nanyan table tennis club in Sanya, where the coach noted: “We let him observe the older players from the stands, and he would mimic their movements pretty well. He has a good feel for the ball and a good understanding of the game.”
Before he turned 10, Lin made it to the Hainan provincial team where he trained thrice a day with no holidays.
With a fast and ferocious backhand – he is able to generate considerable power with a short swing to catch opponents off guard – that draws comparisons with Fan, he was selected for national team training and made it to China’s second team in 2020.
Lin then beat more illustrious Chinese seniors such as Xu Xin, Lin Gaoyuan and Liang Jingkun in 2021 aged just 16. In 2023, he became a quadruple world junior champion, winning the Under-19 boys’ team; singles; doubles, and mixed doubles events.
Fan, whose 13-match winning streak in the Singapore Smash men’s singles ended, acknowledged Lin’s backhand prowess and said: “We know each other’s game well so, in situations like this, we each have to do our part to win.
“I see such match-ups as normal and healthy competition rather than me having a target on my back. Today, I lost because I didn’t play well and made too many unforced errors, so I’ll need to review and rectify.”
While world No. 3 Ma did not stop for interviews post-match, Franziska was left relishing a follow-up win to his 2022 WTT Champions European Summer Series victory over Ma.
After punishing his opponent with unforgiving backhands, Franziska, 31, said: “This is why you put in so many hours in the practice hall away from your family. He still has that focus, attitude and aura at the table, and beating him is the biggest challenge in our sport.
“After I beat him once, I believe I can beat him again. It could easily have been 3-1 and a normal result, but I was telling myself, if I had the chances, I would go for it because that’s how I have to play to beat him.
“To be honest, this was a match-up I wanted but didn’t look beyond. Last year, Dimi and I lost in the first round and we went out to the city feeling a bit down, and now we are both in the last 16 and it will be a great match for sure.”
There were no such upsets in the women’s singles as China’s world No. 2 Chen Meng and third-ranked Wang Manyu were joined by Japan’s 12th-ranked Mima Ito in the round of 16 after beating lower-ranked opponents.
In the mixed doubles, seventh-ranked Spaniards Alvaro Robles and Maria Xiao beat Singapore’s world No. 24 pair of Clarence Chew and Zeng Jian 3-0 (12-10, 11-5, 11-8) to advance to the quarter-finals. Local hopefuls Izaac Quek and Zhou Jingyi, 69th in the world, also lost in straight games (11-8, 11-6, 11-7) to 10th-ranked Romanians Ovidiu Ionescu and Bernadette Szocs.
In the women’s doubles, Zhou and Zeng put up a fight but lost 3-0 (11-8, 12-10, 15-13) to Romania’s world No. 20 pair Elizabeta Samara and Andreea Dragoman in the round of 32.
