Nina Mittelham and Patrick Franziska have reached the third round in singles at the table tennis Grand Smash tournament in Singapore.
The world number 16. Franziska (1. FC Saarbrücken) won against Wong Chun Ting from Hong Kong in 3:1 sets. Team European Champion Mittelham (TTC Berlin Eastside) also beat Hungarian Dora Madarasz 3-1.
Both drew attention to themselves last autumn when they won the European Top 16 tournament and shortly afterwards led the two German national teams for men and women to win the title at the European Team Championships.
The $2 million tournament in Singapore marks the premiere of table tennis’s new Grand Smash format, which is modeled after the four tennis Grand Slam competitions.