Singapore’s Zeng Jian stuns world No. 9 Mima Ito at World Table Tennis Star Contender

SINGAPORE – Singapore’s Zeng Jian registered the biggest win of her career when she stunned Japan’s world No. 9 Mima Ito 3-2 (6-11, 12-10, 5-11, 14-12, 11-9) in the round of 32 at the World Table Tennis Star Contender London on Oct 24.

The world No. 46 player will take on Hong Kong’s 40th-ranked Doo Hoi Kem on Oct 25 for a place in the quarter-finals. Both players are tied at 3-3 in head-to-head encounters, though they last met in 2016 when Doo won 4-3.

Zeng told The Straits Times: “I’m very happy because this is a major breakthrough for me and though she created a lot of problems for me, I managed to keep up with her variety and tempo during the start of the rallies, and hang on for the win.”

The 28-year-old also recalled how she had beaten Ito in their first encounter at the last 16 of the 2016 Slovenia Open, before losing their next five meetings as the Japanese went on to achieve success. Former teenage prodigy Ito, who is now 25, won mixed doubles gold, women’s team silver and singles bronze at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

Zeng said: “It has been almost 10 years since I last beat her, and in this decade, she has remained at the top while there is a gulf in standard between our quality and temperament as she became an Olympic champion and a world-class athlete.

“So, this win is a very important boost for me and I’m thankful to have coach (Jing Junhong) by my side and trusting me, that we didn’t give up when I was at some low points of my career.”

On Oct 23, the Hunan native, who received her Singapore citizenship in 2019, passed a first-round test by beating Croatia’s world No. 105 Hana Arapovic 3-0 (16-14, 11-6, 11-6).

But Ito, who was also singles bronze medallist at the 2025 world championships, presented a more daunting second-round obstacle. She had swept Zeng 3-0 (11-7, 11-5, 11-8) in their last meeting at the Asian Cup in February.

Known for her unique serves, ferocious forehands, and short-pimple backhand – for flatter returns and a wide variety of play – the Japanese player easily took the first game despite losing the first two points.

But Zeng hit back to take the second game, and showed her resolve in the fourth by saving three match points to take it to the wire.

She then led 5-4 in the decider before Ito called a timeout, which worked for the latter as she turned the deficit into a 9-6 advantage.

However, Zeng showed there was still fight in her as she won five straight points to claim the biggest scalp of her career.

Singapore national women’s coach Jing said: “We had thought it would be tough to beat Ito as Zeng Jian had been very passive in their last match. But she was desperate for a breakthrough so she went into this match with a good mentality.

“We made certain adjustments to our strategy and she executed the game plan and shots very well.

“She didn’t panic under pressure and her composure was key to the victory.”

Also impressing at the US$300,000 (S$390,000) event were world No. 8 Koen Pang and Izaac Quek, who reached the men’s doubles semi-finals where they lost 3-1 (11-9, 13-11, 5-11, 12-10) to top seeds and world No. 3 Wong Chun Ting and Baldwin Chan on Oct 24 to pocket US$2,125 in prize money.

The Singaporeans beat another Hong Kong pair, 36th-ranked Kwan Man Ho and Lam Siu Hang, 3-0 (11-5, 11-5, 11-9) in the first round on Oct 23, before defeating England’s 104th-ranked Paul Drinkhall and Samuel Walker 3-0 (11-4, 11-5, 11-6) earlier on Oct 24.

Elsewhere at the Copper Box Arena, there were also encouraging performances from Singapore’s world No. 165 Ser Lin Qian, who beat Yoo Si-woo (No. 130) of South Korea and Spain’s Elvira Rad (152) in the women’s singles qualifiers before overcoming Hong Kong’s Zhu Chengzhu (125) in the first round of the main draw.

While the 19-year-old eventually lost 3-0 (11-6, 11-5, 11-5) to Japan’s world No. 15 Miyu Nagasaki in the round of 32, her teammate Zeng noted that the victories over higher-ranked opponents as well as the

women’s team bronze at the Asian Table Tennis Team Championships

bode well for their SEA Games gold medal hopes in December.

She said: “There will always be a different feel, expectation and pressure between individual events on the pro tour and major Games.

“But we will keep working hard to improve and it’s always good to see our young players do well in international competitions. Such good results and tough wins always help to increase morale and confidence, and they show we are moving in the right direction.”

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