Beijing, Oct. 7 -- Home favorite Sun Yingsha suffered a second-round exit after a 3-1 loss to Thailand's Orawan Paranang at the 2026 WTT China Smash on Wednesday.
World No. 1 Sun, who had beaten Paranang 4-0 in the round of 16 at the 2026 Asian Games, took the opening game 11-8 before the Thai leveled the match with an 11-4 win in the second.
Trailing 10-8 in the third, Sun saved two game points before eventually losing 12-10. She then led 10-8 in the fourth but dropped four consecutive points to lose another tight game 12-10 and the match.
"Orawan prepared for and played this match well. It's quite normal for athletes to have some ups and downs. Coming here after the Asian Games, physically I'm not feeling quite well. I had a fever last...