SINGAPORE, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- The draw for the 2026 World Table Tennis Singapore Smash was held on Friday, with men's top seed Wang Chuqin set to open against Australia's Finn Luu, while women's world No. 1 Sun Yingsha will begin her campaign against a qualifier.
Wang anchors a strong top half of the men's singles draw that also includes Chinese compatriots Wen Ruibo, Lin Shidong and Zhou Qihao. International contenders in the same section include France's Felix Lebrun, Anders Lind of Denmark and Japan's Sora Matsushima.
The bottom half features Chinese players Huang Youzheng, Xiang Peng, Chen Junsong and Chen Yuanyu, alongside leading names such as France's Alexis Lebrun, Tomokazu Harimoto of Japan, Sweden's Truls Moregard and Hugo Calderano of Brazil.
In the women's singles, Sun leads a top half that also includes six other Chinese players - Shi Xunyao, He Zhuojia, Kuai Man, Chen Xingtong, Qin Yuxuan and Chen Yi - as well as Japan's Hina Hayata and Honoka Hashimoto.
The bottom half sees China's Wang Manyu and Wang Yidi drawn to face Zeng Jian of Singapore and South Korea's Joo Cheon-hui respectively in the opening round. That section also includes Japan's Miwa Harimoto and Mima Ito, along with Shin Yu-bin of South Korea.
At the draw ceremony on Friday afternoon, Lin Shidong and Felix Lebrun drew the chips for the women's singles. Lin said he hopes to build on his strong form in Singapore at this year's tournament.
Sun, who took part in the men's singles draw, said she aims to maintain her usual mindset and perform at her best in every match.
The Singapore Smash, the first WTT Grand Smash tournament of the season, will be held from February 19 to March 1. Singles qualifying is scheduled for February 19 to 21. The first title will be decided in the mixed doubles on February 27, followed by the men's and women's doubles finals on February 28, with the singles champions crowned on March 1. ■
