(by Steve Hopkins)
The first WTT Champions series event of 2026 is down to its final day in Doha, with four men and four women left to battle on the final day. The big upset on the first day was Dimitrij Ovtcharov over Hugo Calderano, but Lin Yun-Ju stepped into that void to defeat Ovtcharov and then Matsushima on his way to the Semfinals. Tomokazu Harimoto has emerged in that same half of the draw, winning a tough trio of matches that included Xiang Peng, Zhou Qihao and Felix Lebrun.
The top half of the draw has tested World No. 2 Lin Shidong. The event’s top seed defeated Benekikt Duda 3-2 in the Round of 16, and had a tight 4-2 win over Liang Jingkun in the Quarters. Still, Lin Shidong was the first to reach the Semifinals, punching his ticket in the earliest of the Quarterfinal matches on Saturday. Korea Republic’s Jang Woojin is not a typical World No. 18, as he has been in the top 10 and has logged big wins over elite players. Still, in a section of the draw that included Truls Moregard, Alexis Lebrun, Shunsuke Togami, and Simon Gauzy, most fans would not have expected to see Woojin reach the Semifinal. Yet, after holding on for a 3-2 win over Alexis Lebrun (which included a 16-14 loss), he topped Togami 3-1 and then pounded Moregard 4-1. Woojin will face Shidong Sunday afternoon for a chance to reach the Final.
The Women’s Draw has been uncharacteristically surprising. Often the top seeds on the women’s side dominate early, and the results are predictable. Saturdays matches included two massive upsets in a row. Zhu Yuling defeated World No. 5 Wang Yidi in the early match with Zhu winning the first two games, and then trading games to win 4-2. The next match was World No. 2 Wang Manyu against Germany’s Ying Han and the two fought through a seesaw battle with no player winning two games in a row. Han won the first, third, fifth, and the deciding seventh games to advance.
The bottom half of the draw had two matchups between China and Japan. In both cases, China came out on top. Chen Xingtong fell behind Miwa Harimoto 0-2 before fighting back for the 4-3 win. And Kuai Man, now the top remaining seed, took care of business in a 4-1 win over Miyu Nagasaki.
Finals start on Sunday afternoon.
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