Lin Yun-ju, Taiwan’s top-ranked male table tennis star, won silver on Sunday in the men’s singles at the World Table Tennis (WTT) Grand Smash in Singapore.
Despite a straight-sets loss to world No. 1 Wang Chuqin of China, Lin earned a place on the podium and finished with a
career-best performance in a Grand Smash event.
Courtesy of the WTT official website
Currently ranked No. 8 in the world, Lin lost 3-11, 8-11, 8-11, 9-11 to Wang in the final at the Infinity Arena in The Kallang, marking his 11th defeat in 14 head-to-head matchups with the Chinese player.
Wang established a dominant lead in the first two games before Lin edged ahead 3-1 at one point during the third game, but Wang responded with a devastating 9-1 run that put Lin back on the defensive.
Lin’s best opening came in the fourth game when he jumped out to a 5-2 lead, but Wang stormed back to reach match point at 10-8. Although Lin saved one match point to make it 10-9, he was unable to overcome the world No. 1.
Along with his second-place trophy, the 24-year-old Taiwanese took home US$50,000 in prize money and secured 1,400 ranking points.
With the victory, Wang claimed his fifth WTT Grand Smash title, gaining 2,000 points and a cash prize of US$100,000.
Earlier in the day, Lin had clinched a place in the final of the Grand Smash men’s singles for the first time, after defeating world No. 5 Truls Moregardh of Sweden 4-2 in the semi-finals.
The Singapore Smash featured a field of 64 players in the men’s singles event. Lin’s world ranking is expected to rise to No. 7 when the WTT updates its list this week. The current world No. 7, Sora Matsushima of Japan, was eliminated in the round-of-16, earning only 150 points.
As of Monday morning, Matsushima was ranked No. 7 with 3,305 points, followed by Lin with 2,875.
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