Site Products
2020 ITTF Men's World Cup: Tomokazu Harimoto

First Round Action at Singapore Smash

(by Steve Hopkins)

With all ten of the ITTF Top 10 in attendance, the WTT’s Singapore Smash is the most competitive tournament of 2023 thus far.  Of those players, only Ovtcharov was upset in the opening Round.  Ovtcharov fell victim to Shunsuke Togami (the 21-year-old, fast-rising Japanese star who recently won the All-Japan Championship).  Ovtcharov was managing the match well – with wins in the first and third game, but Togami turned in two brilliant games for the comeback win.

Tiago Apolonia dominated Omar Assar 3-0 to advance (he’ll play Fan Zhendong tomorrow).  Iran’s Noshad Alamiyan caught Korea’s An  Jaehyun offguard for a 3-2 upset win – he’ll face another Korean, Lim Jonghoon in the next round. After topping Ovtcharov, Togami will face Joao Geraldo.  Robert Gardos will face Truls Moregard.  Canada’s Eugene Wang snuck by Benedek Olah 3-2 and will now face Wang Chuqin.  Singapore’s 16 year old qualifier Quek Izaac took out Sharath Kamal Achanta 3-0.  Izaac will face Mattias Falck (after Falck topped Patrick Franziska 3-2).  Lin Gaoyuan will face Jang Woojin, and Feng Yi-Hsin will face Liang Jingkun.  No surprises as Calderano will face Uda and Ort will face Jorgic – each topping a lower ranked opponent.

France’s Alexis Lebrun topped China’s Yuan Licen 3-1.  Lebrun will next face Quadri Aruna.  Another French player, Can Akkuzu advanced and will face Harimoto.  And Alexis’ younger penholding brother Felix Lebrun topped Simon Gauzy to advance – Felix will face Lin Yun-Ju. Dang Qiu will face Pang Yew, Chuang Chih-Yuan will face Lee Sangsu, and in an early powerhouse matchup – Lin Shidong will face Ma Long.

Key matches on the Ladies side included a 3-1 win by Adriana Diaz over Zhu Chengzhu.  Diaz will join Sun, Mittelham, Shan, Manyu, Yang, Hayata, Hirano, Yidi, Ito, Siqi, Meng and much of the rest of the World’s Top 25 in the next Round.  TeamUSA’s Lily Zhang had a tough draw as she faced Mima Ito – it was a tight match that ended with a 3-1 win for Ito.

Lots of quality table tennis on tap all week long – we’ll have more updates soon.

Visit ButterflyOnline.com for the latest table tennis news and results

Latest News

#1 Putting time pressure on the opponent with quick attacks

July 1, 2025
[Feature] [Special Feature] America’s star! Jha’s strong points #1 Putting time pressure on the opponent with quick attacks… Read More

Product Validation – Beginner Set up

July 1, 2025
(by: Bowmar Sports) In this Butterfly Product Validation, Brian Pace explain a fantastic Beginner Set-up is you are… Read More

Counter-Attack WITH Control – Harimoto Innerforce Super ALC + Dignics 05 + Dignics 05

June 30, 2025
(by Bowmar Sports) In the dynamic world of table tennis, power often takes the spotlight — but control… Read More

Center of Gravity in Your Stomach

June 30, 2025
WAIT FUNCTION: Serve short backspin or side backspin to Forehand, Robot plays long backspin push to Forehand, Forehand… Read More

Celebrating Excellence: Honored As Canada’s Table Tennis Coach Of The Year

June 30, 2025
(by Coach Raymond/Butterfly Americas) It is with immense pride and gratitude that I reflect on being named *Canada’s… Read More

WTTC 2025 (Part 3): A Gathering of Global Table Tennis Passion – Report from the Butterfly Booth in Doha

June 30, 2025
(by Buterfly Global) In the final installment of our WTTC 2025 series, we share a report from the… Read More

WTTC 2025 (Part 2): Expanding the Circle of Social Contribution Through Table Tennis – Messages Embodied in T-Shirts for the ITTF Foundation

June 30, 2025
(By Butterfly Global) In the second installment of our WTTC 2025 series, we highlight the initiatives carried out… Read More

Smarter Now Doesn’t Mean You Were Dumb Before

June 30, 2025
(By Larry Hodges) This is one of those tips where the title, by itself, should give you a… Read More
View All News

Get the latest from Butterfly

Stay “In The Loop” with Butterfly professional table tennis equipment, table tennis news, table tennis technology, tournament results, and We Are Butterfly players, coaches, clubs and more.