Chinese paddlers aiming to defend WTT Open titles in March

Sun Yingsha left of China hits a return during the women's singles final against her teammate Chen Meng at the WTT Cup Finals in Xinxiang, central China's province of Henan on October 30, 2022. The XINHUA BEIJING Chinese paddlers Fan Zhendong and Chen Meng will be aiming to defend their titles at the World Table Tennis WTT Singapore Smash in March.

I'm looking forward to competing again at Singapore Smash 2023. Chen said in an interview with the WTT website that it is always an honor to be returning as the defending champion.

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The competition is tough, but this is what we train for and it's a good chance for us to put this training into practice, said the reigning Olympic women's singles champion.

In his title defense, Fan is expected to face a stern challenge from his compatriots, world No 2 Ma Long and third-ranked Wang Chuqin, as well as Japanese prodigy Tomokazu Harimoto and Brazilian ace Hugo Calderano, who won back-to- back WTT Contender titles last month. Other paddlers to watch out for are the sixth-ranked Truls Moregard of Sweden, the German legend Timo Boll and Liam Pitchford of England.

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The Singapore Smash 2023 will feature 64 players in the men's and women's singles, and 24 pairs in the men's, women's and mixed doubles, with a singles qualifying competition to feature 64 male and 64 female paddlers.