(by Steve Hopkins, photo WTT)
There have been two WTT tour events so far in 2026, but there has only been on WTT Champion thus far – Zhu Yuling. Butterfly player Zhu Yuling won medals in singles and doubles at the 2013 World Table Tennis Championships in Paris. Through her career in China, she was a key part of the Chinese National Team, and she even achieved World No. 1 in 2017. She struggled with injuries in 2019, and retired from the team during the Pandemic – leaving officially in 2021 after a surgery.
After a recovering from surgery, Zhu settled down in Macao and spent several years as an associate professor at Tianjin University where she also coached table tennis. After officially obtaining residency in Macao in 2024, she was asked to represent a new country in table tennis – and she began to train again. At age 29, she began international competition again and this month, at age 31, she’s the only top female to have won an event – and with today’s win she has gained 500 points on Kuai Man (the player immediately ahead of her in the World Rankings at No. 4).
Zhu Yuling’s path to the Final included a pair of 3-0 wins over Zhu Ziyu and Manika Batra, then a tight 3-2 win over Saki Shibata, a tight 3-2 win over Satsuki Odo, and a strong Final that concluded with a 4-2 win over Hitomi Sato.
Sato also had a great tournament from the World No. 29 position. Sato upset Kuai Man in the Round of 16, then upset Kim Nayeong in the Quarters, and then upset Adriana Diaz in the Semifinals. Despite the Semifinal loss, Puerto Rico’s Adriana Diaz also logged a big win – defeating China’s Chen Yi (World No. 7) in the Quarters.
The next tour stop is in Muscat, Oman – and action starts on Monday. Shi Xunyao (World No. 13) is the top seed with Cheng I-Ching, Linda Bergstrom, Anna Hursey, and Manika Batra all scheduled to play.
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