The 2025 US Smash table tennis tournament in Los Angeles witnessed consecutive unexpected failures of Chinese table tennis.
Recently, Sun Yingsha (Chau Dinh Sa) - the No. 1 seed - unexpectedly lost to young compatriot Chen Yi with a score of 1-3 (9-11, 11-7, 5-11, 9-11).
Previously, Sun Yingsha was going through a series of 20 consecutive wins, including the Singapore Smash championship, World Table Tennis (WTT) Champions Chongqing, World Cup and World Championship.
However, this female athlete has not maintained a stable performance. Meanwhile, Chen Yi is only 21 years old, ranked 17th in the world and has never been crowned at a major tournament.
She entered the match with a more relaxed mentality and took advantage of the opportunities created. The victory helped Chen Yi pass the round of 16 for the first time at a prestigious US Smash tournament.
Two days earlier, three other male players, Liang Jingkun (seed No. 4), Lin Gaoyuan (15) and Yu Chenanyu (16) were also eliminated early in round 1, making the tournament considered the "Grand Slam of Table Tennis" more surprising and dramatic.
US Smash is one of the top four tournaments in the WTT - along with tournaments in China, Europe and Singapore, attracting great attention from fans.
