Aruna, world No. 1 out of WTT China Smash News

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Aruna, world No. 1 out of WTT China Smash

By Daily Sports Nigeria on October 3, 2024

Quadri Aruna and world No. 1 Wang Chuqin, have been eliminated from the Men’s Singles at China Smash 2024 after losing their respective Round of 32 games.

Aruna, who is ranked 19th in the world, fell 3-1 (11-4, 6-11, 11-8, 11-9) to Swedish Anton Kallberg, who occupies five rungs lower than the Nigerian in the rankings at Shijingshan Shougang Park on Tuesday night.

To reach the Round of 32 of the tournament with $2m prize money, which runs from September 26 to October 6, Aruna defeated Benedek Olah of Finland 3-1 (13-11, 11-5,12-10, 11-7) in the round of 64.

Another shocking result saw World No. 1 Wang Chuqin’s hopes of completing a sweep of this season’s WTT Grand Smash singles titles dashed after he succumbed to a shock round of 32 exit at the hands of Anders Lind 3-1 (13-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-7).

Taking home the Men’s Singles honours at Singapore Smash and Saudi Smash earlier this season, Wang entered Tuesday’s showdown off the back of 13 straight singles wins at WTT Grand Smash level and was heavily backed to make it 14 in a row. But Lind had other plans.

Having recently collected his second WTT Feeder Series title in Panagyurishte, he was well up for the fight on Tuesday evening, taking the game to his top-seeded opponent right from the off.

This was the first time the two players had met since their quarterfinal clash at last year’s ITTF World Championships Finals. Despite losing out on that occasion, Lind more than held his own in that matchup in Durban. But he looked like a different beast at the table, sending shockwaves around Shijingshan Shougang Park with his fearless tenacity and his willingness to think outside the box.

The China Smash crowd were on the edge of their seats as their local hero was up against the ropes.

“Normally, against most of the other top ten players, I just go with my normal game, and I’ve been super close many times. Today my approach was completely different. I know if I play backhand-backhand, he will destroy me; if I play spin-spin, he will destroy me; if I do anything that is considered normal table tennis, he is much better than me. So I just tried to make it very weird for him; make a lot of weird backhand slices with a lot of spin; make serves with a lot of spin to try and make him make some unforced errors.” Anders Lind.

The plan paid off. Lind was baffling Wang with his unpredictable play. But it wasn’t just in the unorthodox that the underdog excelled. Lind was bringing out incredible counterpunches on the backhand and reaching for incredible forehand counters.

Recognising their man was in a real bind, the home crowd rallied behind Wang in an attempt to galvanise the two-time WTT Grand Smash champion, but their efforts were ultimately in vein as Lind went for the jugular, embracing his role as the giant slayer to close out an extraordinary 3-1 victory over the World No. 1.

Anders Lind celebrates a win that seems like a dream.

“It’s one of the best feelings. The happiness is unbelievable, really. It is a moment I will cherish for the rest of my life. But not only I will cherish it, but it will also give me a lot of confidence going forward.” Anders Lind.

An end of the road for what has been an incredible WTT Grand Smash year for Wang Chuqin. But now it’s on Lind to see how far he can go at China Smash. Next stop: a round of 16 match versus the rapidly rising Kao Cheng-Jui.

Meanwhile, WTT is now faced with a decision to sanction Fan Zhendong and Chen Meng after they withdrew from two mandatory tournaments: the WTT Champions in Macao and the WTT Grand Smash in China.

Just a few weeks ago, Aruna Quadri was penalised for missing the WTT Champions, despite notifying WTT early due to his club commitments. His reason was dismissed, resulting in a point deduction and a $5,000 fine, as WTT reiterated the tournament’s mandatory status for top players.

Now, with Olympic champions Fan Zhendong and Chen Meng withdrawing from the even more prestigious WTT Grand Smash in China the same offence is at play.

If WTT fails to impose the same sanctions on them as it did on Aruna, it will reveal a bias and double standards that could be highly damaging to the integrity of the sport.

Source Punch Ng

Posted October 3, 2024