Kanak Jha becomes last American left in U.S. Smash singles draw
Jha’s 11-2, 11-3 start buried Tom Jarvis and left him as the final American singles player at U.S. Smash, with Truls Moregard next.
Kanak Jha powered past Tom Jarvis 3-1 to become the last American left in the singles draw at the 2026 U.S. Smash, a result that kept the host nation’s marquee singles hope alive in Ontario, California. Jha won 11-2, 11-3, 6-11, 11-4 in Maverick Arena at the Ontario Convention Center, then turned immediately toward a Round of 16 meeting with Truls Moregard on July 3.
The first two games told the story. Jha came out on top with a level of pace and precision Jarvis could not absorb, ripping through the opening set 11-2 and following with another one-sided 11-3 frame. Jarvis finally broke through in the third game, taking it 11-6, but Jha answered quickly and shut the door 11-4 to finish the match in four.
The victory mattered beyond the scoreline because Jha was already carrying the American singles campaign by himself. Jishan Liang and Sally Moyland had fallen in the mixed doubles quarterfinals against Brazil’s Hugo Calderano and Bruna Takahashi, which left Jha as the lone U.S. player still alive in singles at a tournament that started with 18 Americans in the field, according to USA Table Tennis.
That gives his run a much larger frame. World Table Tennis described the U.S. Smash as one of only four Smash events on the international calendar, with $1.55 million on the line at the event staged June 26 to July 5 at the Ontario Convention Center. Jha entered as the United States’ highest-ranked player and world No. 25, a status that has raised the expectation level on home soil and made every round count.
Moregard will be a severe step up. World Table Tennis listed the Swede as world No. 2 on the event page, and Jha already has one useful reference point against him: he beat Moregard in the Round of 32 at Singapore Smash 2025. That win does not make the next match easy, but it does mean Jha is not walking into it blind. He has already shown he can beat an elite opponent of that caliber, and his controlled start against Jarvis suggested the kind of level he will need again if this becomes more than just survival.
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