Qualifying top seed crushes out on day 1 as WTT China Smash launches

BEIJING, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- Men's singles qualifying top seed Eduard Ionescu suffered an opening session exit here on Thursday as the World Table Tennis (WTT) Grand Smash landed in China for the first time.

The world No. 58 from Romania, just 19, wasted a two-game lead and a total of five match points in the decider to see his 90th-ranked opponent Deni Kozul win the five-game marathon 7-11, 8-11, 12-10, 11-3,