Romanian table tennis player Bernadette Szocs on Tuesday defeated Chinese Xingtong Chen, world number five, 3-1 (6-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-3) in the first round of the women’s singles event at the World Table Tennis (WTT) Champions Macao 2023 tournament, write Agerpres.

Szocs, world number 27, will play France’s Jia Nan Yuan, world no. 17.

Also on Tuesday, compatriot Elizabeta Samara lost in the first round to Japanese Mima Ito, world number 7, 3-1 (7-11, 11-8, 11-4, 11-6).

This March, Samara defeated Chinese Meng Chen, the reigning Olympic champion, 3-2 (6-11, 11-6, 2-11, 11-6, 11-8), in the round of 16 of the Singapore Smash 2023 tournament.