Get ready for a smash hit at the Singapore Smash 2023!

Spectators to Singapore Smash 2023 can expect a star-studded singles field with 2022 champions Chen Meng, the women’s World No. 2, and Fan Zhendong, men’s World No. 1, returning to defend their crowns at the OCBC Arena at the Singapore Sports Hub. The top 10 women’s and men’s singles players will be in action at Singapore Smash 2023, which takes place from 7-9 March for qualifying and 11-19 March for the main draw. So, expect some scintillating table tennis on display!

In the men’s event, World No. 2 Ma Long, last year’s singles finalist, will aim to go one better this year and take home the crown. Ma Long is widely regarded as the greatest player of all time, winning every international singles title available in the sport throughout his career. He certainly has an array of wizardry in his possession, but can he bring any magic to Singapore? 

Ma Long finds himself No.2 seed in the competition and No.2 in the world, with Fan Zhendong holding both of those crowns at the moment. What’s more, at the Singapore Smash event in 2022, Fan Zhendong and Ma Long met in the final, with Fan taking the title 4-3. However, the last time these two players faced each other, just last month, Ma Long comfortably beat his compatriot 3-0. So, what will happen in Singapore? It’s tough to call, but the world will be waiting!

Both Chinese superstars will have to claim the title while also fending off challenges from the likes of third-ranked compatriot Wang Chuqin, Japanese prodigy Tomokazu Harimoto and also Brazilian Hugo Calderano, who last month won back-to-back WTT Contender titles.

Fan Zhendong has only lost four singles matches since July 2021, but one was against Wang Chuqin, and another was against Tomokazu Harimoto, can either of them take him down again this time around? The legend Timo Boll and Liam Pitchford of England will also return to do battle in Singapore, as well as Swedish bad boy Truls Moregard, all of whom will look to provide stern opposition to the top seeds in the tournament.

One to definitely watch out for in the Men’s Singles is Chinese teenager Lin Shidong, who is enjoying a magnificent start to the year. The 17-year-old will look to build on his excellent form – he has already won eight titles from five events in 2023. Notably, he upset Dimitrij Ovtcharov in the final of the WTT Contender Amman last month to clinch his maiden WTT Series singles title. There, he also partnered compatriot Kuai Man to win his fifth mixed doubles title in five attempts. He looks a hot prospect for the future, so don’t write him off against any opponent!

In the women’s singles, featuring alongside defending champion Chen Meng will be a slew of leading Chinese and Japanese players set to thrill the crowd into frenzy. These include World No.1 Sun Yingsha, World No.3 Wang Manyu and World No.4 Wang Yidi, and these Chinese superstars will all be hoping to put pressure on their compatriots and take the first-place glory! World No.1 Sun Yingsha was defeated in the final last year by Chen Meng in a 4-3 blockbuster, can she get her revenge this time? Wang Yidi is also fresh from winning an WTT singles title in Goa only last week, so can she continue her recent, exquisite form and take another title here in Singapore? 

The women’s singles will also feature fan favourites and World No.5 and No.6 Hina Hayata and Mima Ito, the 2022 Women’s Doubles finalists from Japan, as well assome big names from the rest of the world, including Germany’s Ying Han, Hong Kong’s Doo Hoi Kem and Austria’s Sofia Polcanova, all of whom are set to bid for Singapore Smash glory at the Infinity Arena. Also featuring will be Puerto-Rican playmaker Adriana Diaz, who will certainly bring a magic bag full of tricks and twists to try and upset the biggest players in the game. Can anyone stop Chen Meng taking the title two years in a row, though? Only time will tell!

For Singapore fans coming to watch the competition unfold, they will get the chance to see World No.55 Zeng Jian in the women’s singles event, along with youngsters Zhou Jingyi and Wong Xin Ru. The Singaporeans in the men’s singles are Olympian Clarence Chew and 2019 SEA Games champion Koen Pang. Table tennis fans can also catch some of the sport’s exciting young talents, such as 15-year-old Egyptian Hana Goda, who won the ITTF-Africa Cup in May 2022 to become the youngest-ever Continental Cup winner at 14 years and 167 days old. She will be joined in the women’s event by fellow teenager Shin Yubin, Korea Republic's youngest ever table tennis player at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

There’s going to be talent galore in Singapore this March, but who will be able to hold their nerve and play their best table tennis when it matters most? Tune in to find out!