TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Taiwanese table tennis players Li Yu-jhun (李昱諄) and Cheng Hsien-Tzu (鄭先知) successfully advanced past the first round of the WTT U.S. Grand Smash qualifiers on Friday (July 4). The prestigious event, part of the World Table Tennis series, offers a substantial prize pool of US$1.55 million (around NT$44.7 million), establishing it as one of the highest-ranking tournaments after the year-end finals. Taiwan's representatives demonstrated resilience in their opening matches at this elite international competition.
Li demonstrated remarkable resilience, overcoming a challenging start to defeat Italy's Debora Vivarelli with scores of 2-11, 11-5, 11-7, and 11-7. Cheng secured a hard-fought victory against Singapore's 19-year-old Lin Xian, prevailing 11-5, 4-11, 12-14, 11-5, and 11-3 in an intense five-set battle. Taiwan's Huang Yen-cheng (黃彥誠) fell short in a closely contested match against Belgium's Adrien Rassenfosse, losing 2-3 in a nail-biting encounter.
Taiwan's men's contingent features Huang and Liao Chen-tung (廖振珽) competing in the qualifiers, while Lin Yun-ju (林昀儒), Kao Cheng-ju (高承睿), and Feng Yi-hsin (馮翊新) have already secured coveted spots in the main draw. The women's team sees Li, Cheng, and Liu Hsing-yin (劉馨尹) starting from the qualifying rounds, with Cheng I-ching (鄭怡靜), Huang Yi-hua (黃怡樺), and Chien Tung-chuan (簡彤娟) advancing directly to the main competition. ◼