In the early hours of August 20 Beijing time, the WTT European Grand Smash in Sweden continued, with Olympic champion and Chinese Table Tennis Team mainstay Wang Manyu putting on a commanding performance. She swept Puerto Rican star Adriana Díaz 3-0 in the women’s singles second round, securing her spot in the Round of 16 and keeping her title ambitions alive.
Match Highlights
Wang Manyu has long been a pillar of the Chinese women’s team, holding the No. 2 spot in the world rankings. Her opponent, Adriana Díaz, is the leading figure in the women’s game across the Americas. Once ranked inside the world’s top 10, Díaz has recently slipped to No. 21 but remains the standard-bearer for Pan-American table tennis.
The two players have history: Díaz once edged Wang in the mixed team World Cup under a special format, but under standard rules she has now lost to Wang seven times — most recently at the WTT Champions Yokohama earlier this month. That made Wang the clear favorite heading into this clash.
Match Recap
Game 1: Both players opened with powerful rallies, including rare backhand-to-forehand counter-loops from mid-distance. Wang, with her more complete arsenal, quickly pulled ahead 9-2 and closed it out 11-5 with ease.
Game 2: Wang came out firing again, racing to a 9-1 lead. After converting her eighth game point, she sealed the game 11-3, moving within one game of victory.
Game 3: Wang struck early once more, forcing Díaz to burn her timeout at 0-3. The Chinese star maintained control, reached 10-6, and finished the match with a sharp backhand winner, taking it 11-6 for a clean 3-0 sweep.
Sanweisport-Professional Table Tennis Equipment Provider
Only 11.9 USD
- Taiji 210 bat is an allround premade high quality table tennis bat for the starters, it’s the best seller and the most popular bat of the Taiji Bat series.
- The blade is made by 7 layers of decent pure wood, coated by two sides of ITTF approved rubber makes it useable for competition, with a comfortable flared handle.
- It saves your time for selecting from thousands of combinations and just gives you the right one with great quality/price ratio.
- 2-Stars Table Tennis Bat is perfect for amateur gamers !
- If you are interested in table tennis equipment, you can visit our Sanweisport homepage to select the most professional table tennis equipment. We will provide you with the best table tennis blades, rubbers, bat, and other products!
Post-Match Outlook
Adriana Díaz’s unorthodox style and rise as a top player from Puerto Rico are impressive achievements, but the gulf between her and the Asian and European elites remains significant. Against China’s core players, her chances are slim, and repeated defeats are hardly surprising.
For Wang Manyu, this was a confident start to her Swedish Grand Smash campaign. With her form looking sharp, fans can expect her to push deeper into the tournament and challenge for the title.
