(by Steve Hopkins, Photo USATT)
Kanak Jha only got better as he maneuvered through the draw, eventually closing out the Semifinals with a 4-0 win over Koyo Kanamitsu and then taking the Final 4-0 over Jinbao Ma. This is Kanak’s first US Open win, and it puts a cherry on top of a great 2024 – a year where he also competed in the Olympics and won the US Nationals. It was also a solid performance by Jinbao, who won this tournament just a year ago. Both players dominated their half of the draw, helping push past a strong international field for an All-American Final.
Women’s singles went to Yan Guo, a player who is a part of the China Super League, who had relocated to Texas earlier this year to prepare for this event. That preparation seems to have done the trick, as she eliminated USA’s Amy Wang in the Semis and then topped Asuka Sasao 4-2 in the Final.
In the other featured US Open title events, Seiya Numarmura and Tonin Ryuzaki won Men’s Doubles, Asuka Sasao and Reina Aso won Women’s Doubles, and Koyo Kanamitsu and Minami Ando won Mixed Doubles.
Americans have featured prominently at this year’s US Open in Las Vegas. Jha and Jinbao join Kanamitsu and Yu in the Semifinals of Men’s Singles, and on the Women’s side, Amy Wang (NJ) and Yan Guo (TX) will face each other, while a pair of Japanese players will face off in the other Semi.
Defending National Champion, Kanak Jha logged a 4-1 victory over TeamUSA teammate Jishan Liang to reach the Semifinal. Jha has been pretty dominant, with 3-1, 3-0, 3-0, and 4-1 wins to this point. Jha will face Nakamitsu Koyo, an athletic attacker who was a promising U19 player in Japan before relocating to Australia (and now a part of MLTT and a coach in California). These two faced each other in the Swedish Open in 2018 with Koyo winning 3-1.
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