(by Steve Hopkins, photo WTT)

Truls Moregard took home the Men’s Singles title today in Macao.  He entered the event as the third seed, and his run ended with a pair of explanation points today – a win over second seeded Tomokazu Harimoto in the Semifinal, and then a 4-1 victory over Hugo Calderano in the Final.

The WTT Champions Macao began in 2022, and each of the previous Men’s Singles titles had been won by a Chinese player.  Wang Chuqin, who had won three of those titles (Lin Shidong won the fourth) sat out this year’s event.  That doesn’t mean this was a weak field as 10 of the top 15 players in the World Rankings competed – but it did allow World No. 5 Truls Moregard to maneuver through the field as the third seed, taking the title without needing to face Felix Lebrun or Wang Chuqin.

Each of the finalists, dropped a top seed on their path to the Final.  Hugo Calderano defeated top seeded Sora Matsushima 4-2 in the Quarterfinals  and Truls Moregard trailed twice before outlasting Tomokazu Harimoto 4-3 in the Semifinals.  Moregard’s run was full of tough matches.  He was down 0-2 against Patrick Franziska before winning 3-2 in the opening round, he won 3-1 in a tight match with Shunsuke Togami, he dropped the first game to Darko Jorgic before winning 4-2, trailed against Harimoto in their 4-3 match and then found his stride and dominated Calderano in the Final.  Winning is worth 1000 points, that’s not enough to pass any of the four players ahead of him – but Moregard solidifies his position as No. 5 with this win.

USA’s Kanak Jha faced 21 year old Chinese player Huang Youzheng in the opening round.  Jha was tested, but won 3-2.  The next round matched Jha with Zhou Qihao, a dangerous Chinese player.  Jha lost the opening game 10-12, tied the score in the second with a 11-9 win, but lost the next two games to end his run in the Round of 16.  Qihao went on to fall to Harimoto in the Quarters.  A few other surprises included French 18 year old Flavien Cotton defeating Lin Yun-Ju 3-2 in the Round of 32, and Zhou Qihao topping Dang Qiu 3-2 in the Round of 32.

Miwa Harimoto repeated her 2025 performance – back to back WTT Champions Macao titles.  She has performed very well as the favorite, and this is another tournament where she entered as the top seed and then ran the table for the win.  This is Harimioto’s third WTT Champions series event title in 2026, having won in Chongqing, Yokohama, and now Macao.

Harimoto only dropped two games in four matches on her path to the Final – a path that included dominant 4-1 wins in the Quarters over Bernadette Szocs and in the Semifinals over World No. 7 Chen Xingtong.  Chen Yi was a surprise Finalist – another strong Chinese player, but only World No. 12.  Chen Yi upset Germany’s Ying Han on Saturday 4-0 and then topped Hayata 4-3 on Sunday morning. Harimoto started fast, winning the opening two games – but momentum shifted with Yi winning three in a row.  Harimoto found her stride again at the end, outlasting her opponent 11-9 and 12-10 in a thrilling Final.

USA’s Lily Zhang reached the Round of 16 by defeating Canada’s Mo Zhang in the Round of 32.  Zhang then fell to Dina Meshref of Egypt. Puerto Rico’s Adriana Diaz came out just short against Honoka Hashimoto with the Japanese player winning the 1st, 3rd, and 5th games.  Some other surprises of note were Germany’s Ying Han taking out second seeded Kuai Man in the Round of 32, and Dina Meshref ousting Wang Yidi 3-1 in their opening round match.

Other WTT events are on the calendar this week, including Alexis Lebrun and Dang Qiu headlining an event that will include Kanak Jha in Kazakhstan.  The next big tour stop is the China Smash which starts in Beijing on October 1.

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