Semifinals Take Shape at the 2025 U.S. Open Table Tennis Championships
Share:
by Joshua Dyke
Singles: Yan Guo enters the semifinals for a chance to repeat gold in Open Women's Singles at the 2025 U.S. Open Table Tennis Championships. Mandalay Bay Convention Center. Las Vegas, Nev.,Dec. 19, 2025. (Photo by USATT/Rich London)
LAS VEGAS, Nev. — The 2025 U.S. Open Table Tennis Championships moved into the semifinal stage after Friday night as the field narrowed across the remaining four major events, setting the stage for finals day. After four days of competition in Las Vegas, championship contention remains for a select group of players who advanced through decisive and closely contested quarterfinal matches.
Several former champions continued their runs, while emerging contenders secured marquee matchups that will define today’s finals.
Two-time U.S. Open Men’s Singles Champion Kou Lei advanced to the semifinals with a straight-games victory over Korea’s Yeneung Kim. The 38-year-old Ukrainian displayed strong form as he continued his push toward another U.S. Open title, three years after his most recent gold medal.
Kou Lei will face Koyo Kanamitsu in the semifinals, renewing a partnership-turned-rivalry. The two won the 2023 U.S. Open Men’s Doubles title together, and the two traded close matches in their most recent singles meeting in Week 6 of MLTT.
Lee Seungjun earned his semifinal berth with a 4–2 win over Andrew Cao. After opening with two games in his favor, Seungjun weathered a mid-match surge from Cao before closing out the contest (11-4, 11-9, 12-14, 11-2, 8-11, 11-2). He will meet fellow Korean Minseo Oh, who defeated Nandan Naresh in five games to advance.
Defending champion Yan Guo returned to the semifinals with a straight-games victory over Lily Zhang. Guo controlled the match from the outset, limiting opportunities for the four-time Olympian as she remains on track for a potential repeat title.
Guo will face Amy Wang, the 2022 and 2023 U.S. Open Women’s Singles Champion, in a rematch of last year’s semifinal. Wang advanced with a 4–1 win over Jessica Reyes-Lai, marking the first competitive singles meeting between the two U.S. National Team teammates.
Chen Sun moved into the semifinals following a 4–1 win against Sally Moyland. Sun will face second seed Mo Zhang, who advanced with a composed performance against defensive specialist Eunjung Ban. Zhang’s patience and experience proved decisive in breaking through Ban’s chopping defense.
Jinbao Ma and Koyo Kanamitsu advanced to the semifinals after defeating Kwangil Baek and Zhenyu Xu in three games to seal the match. In the men’s doubles semis, they will next face Mohamed Shouman and Alex Cazacu, who rallied from a two-game deficit to defeat Manh Huy Vu and Manh Cuong Tran in five games, 3-2 (7-11, 11-13, 11-8, 11-9, 11-7).
Americans Nandan Naresh and Daniel Tran advanced with a 3–1 victory over Yiran Wu and Chulong Nie (11-9, 9-11, 11-8, 11-6). They will face Yeneung Kim and Minseo Oh, who won their quarterfinal match in straight games over I-Fan Lin and Wei-Hsun Tseng.
Chen Sun and Chengzhu Zhu continued their unbeaten run, sweeping Youruo Wu and Irene Yeoh 3-0 The pair has not dropped a game since the beginning of their bracket in the women’s doubles quarterfinals.
Eunjung Ban and Mingxuan Nie advanced to the women’s doubles final after an exciting game-five win over Sally Moyland and Jessica Reyes-Lai 3-2 (11-5, 9-11, 5-11, 11-6, 11-7). After dropping games two and three, Ban and Nie closed the match by winning two games in the tightly contested semifinal. The women’s doubles final between Sun/Zhu and Ban/Nie is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 20, at 4:45 p.m. PST.
