In the early morning of May 5, in the first round of the WTT Saudi Arabia Grand Slam 2024 women's singles, the national table tennis rival, the Romanian team Szokos, suffered a three-game reversal, lost 2-3, and was out of the first round.
In this way, Chen Meng's district faces one less fierce opponent.
Szokos
Szokos 2-3 Natalia Bayo
In the first game, Szokos led the situation, Natalia Bayo failed to chase the score, and Szokos won the first game 11-6. In the second game, Natalia Bayo led 9-7, and Szokos scored four points in a row to reverse 11-9 to lead 2-0.
Bayo
In the third game, Szokos led 9-4, Natalia Bayo hit an attack wave 10-9 game point, Szokos tied it, and Natalia Bayo recovered a game 12-10. In the fourth game, Natalia Bayo led all the way to 11-7.
In the deciding game, it was still Natalia Bayo who firmly controlled the situation, winning 11-7 again, completing a three-game reversal.
Chen Meng
Good news for Chen Meng
In 2022 and 2023, Szokos defeated Chen Meng twice, and in the 2024 Incheon Championship, Chen Meng and Szokos played five games, and Chen Meng narrowly won the tiebreaker 11-9. It can be said that Chen Meng beat Szokos and did not have a full certainty of winning.
Now, Szokos was originally in the same three-quarters zone as Chen Meng in the first round, so that Chen Meng's potential rival is one less, mainly facing the Japanese team Miu Hirano and Miwa Zhangmoto.