In addition to the world’s top players, the March 7-19 World Table Tennis Singapore Smash will also feature a slew of local players after they were awarded wild cards to the main and qualifying draws.
Olympian Clarence Chew and Koen Pang will feature in the men’s singles’ main draw from March 11 to 19, while up-and-coming players Zhou Jingyi and Wong Xin Ru will compete in the women’s singles.
The Republic’s top female player, world No. 54 Zeng Jian, is likely to qualify by virtue of her ranking.
Meanwhile, Josh Chua, Ethan Poh, Ser Lin Qian and Zhang Wanling have also been awarded wild cards into the singles qualifying round from March 7 to 9.
The competition will aid their preparations for the May 5-17 SEA Games, for which all have been selected.
In 2022, the event attracted the likes of Chinese world champions Fan Zhendong and Wang Manyu, the top two women players in the world Chen Meng and Sun Yingsha, as well as former world No. 1 and Olympic champion Ma Long.
World No. 150 Chew, who lost in the first round of the singles event a year ago, is relishing the chance to play in front of a home crowd again.
The 27-year-old said: “Opportunities like this are valuable to those of us who are more experienced, as well as my younger teammates who have also received wild cards.
“We’ve been training hard for (the) Singapore Smash so that we’re ready to play our best on home ground, and we’re all looking forward to it.”
Zhou, 17, who made her SEA Games debut in Hanoi in 2022, added: “Playing at the Singapore Smash last year was a good experience and I learnt a lot about competing among the best at an international event.
“I’m excited to be a part of this again and I hope we get lots of supporters here to cheer us on at Singapore Smash.”
The US$2 million (S$2.65 million) Singapore Smash will feature 64 entries for both the men’s and women’s singles, and 24 pairs each for the men’s, women’s and mixed doubles categories. A singles qualifying competition featuring a further 64 men and 64 women will also take place.
The full line-up of players will be announced in early February with more Singaporean players expected to be unveiled.
Tickets are available at ticketmaster.sg/activity/detail/23_ sgsmash2023. They start from $18 for qualifying and $28 for the main draw.
