WTT Challenge: Ye Yi-tian Falls to China's Chen Yi; Chen Becomes China's Sole Women's Singles Hope

Taiwan's sole representative in the main draw of the WTT Zagreb Challenge, 18-year-old Ye Yi-tian, was eliminated in the women's singles first round. She lost 0-3 to China's Chen Yi, ranked 6th in the world. Despite a strong fightback in the second game, where she saved six game points, Ye Yi-tian could not overcome Chen Yi.

This marks Ye Yi-tian's second consecutive loss to Chen Yi, having previously lost 0-3 in the quarterfinals of the Dusseldorf Challenger last year. In their latest encounter, Ye Yi-tian lost the first game 6-11, but rallied in the second. However, errors in the crucial moments led to a 13-15 loss in that set. She then lost the third game 5-11, concluding the match.

Chen Yi emerged as the last remaining Chinese hope in the women's singles after four other Chinese players were defeated in the first round. Among them, world No. 29 Qin Yuxuan lost to Japan's Hina Hayata, a bronze medalist at the Paris Olympics. Other Chinese players also fell to strong international competitors.

In the men's singles, young Taiwanese player Guo Guanhong, 17, lost his first-round match to China's Chen Yuanyu. Feng Yixin, ranked 43rd, also faced an early exit against South Korea's An Jaehyun. The strong performance of the Japanese team, with seven players advancing to the round of 16 in the women's singles, was also noted.