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Wang Chuqin – The Player of the Year 2025
This year brought plenty of memorable runs at the World Table Tennis Championships, World Cup, and other major competitions. The most consistent performer throughout the year was the Chinese international and the reigning World champion, Wang Chuqin.
The 25-year-old did not disappoint Team China fans at the WTTC, winning the gold medal in the singles event and leaving no chance for Hugo Calderano. This title crowned Wang Chuqin as the new leader of Team China. He proved that the coaching staff can rely on him in the most important tournament of the year.
Wang Chuqin rarely lost any games, and he wasn’t as dominant as Wang Liqin, Ma Long, or Fan Zhendong during their prime. Still, he won the most important tournament of the year. Losses in the World Cup or WTT Cup Finals are not that crucial. The World champion’s title overshadows everything.
Among honorable mentions, Hugo Calderano definitely deserves recognition for the most successful year in his career. His World Cup win in Macao ignited plenty of interest prior to the World Championships in Qatar. The 29-year-old Brazilian did not disappoint, and he was able to reach the final. After years of missing the medal at the major tournaments, Calderano finally wrote his name into the list of table tennis legends.
Truls Möregårdh and Liang Jingkun were among the finest performers of 2025. The Swede was able to win another medal at the World Championships, and he is slowly cementing his legacy to reach the status of a legend that many of his predecessors had.
Liang Jingkun began this year already in a legendary status for his past achievements, but his fourth bronze in the singles event at the World Championships once again proved his underrated greatness. Liang Jingkun is one of eight players in table tennis history who have won a medal in the singles event in four consecutive World Championships. That’s an incredibly difficult feat to achieve.
It will be interesting to see who will step up in 2026 and whether there will be any serious contender to challenge Team China in the most important competitions. Can Hugo Calderano continue his successful run, or 2025 will remain a one-hit wonder? Plenty of questions to be answered!
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Tomokazu Harimoto repeats his 2018 success, as Wang Chuqin withdraws from the WTT Cup Finals due to injury
Hong Kong welcomed the top performers on the professional circuit in 2025. The players’ list featured the reigning World champion and a 3-time champion of this competition – Wang Chuqin.
The 25-year-old Chinese international has won a medal at every WTT Cup Finals since 2021. The 2025 edition was no exception. However, the injury ended his run in the 1/4 final, where Wang Chuqin was supposed to meet his Olympic nemesis, Truls Möregårdh.
While the individual match-ups brought plenty of excitement, there were no major upsets in Hong Kong. Three out of four top-ranked players made it to the semi-final stage. The only one who was knocked out in the early round was Hugo Calderano. All the other favourites found their way into the next round.
The road to the final for Truls Möregårdh and Tomokazu Harimoto was very different. The Swedish star got a relatively easy 4-1 win in the Round of 16 against the Dane – Anders Lind, who had a debut at this tournament. In the 1/4 final, he got another solid win against Lin Yun-Ju (4-2).
The fans were eager to see the Swede take on the reigning World champion, Wang Chuqin. Unfortunately, the leader of Team China was forced to withdraw from the competition due to injury. By his own words, “the back problem was an issue”, and after a warm-up us session, the decision about withdrawal was made. Such a cautious approach is understandable. The finals of the 2025 Chinese Super League are coming up, and the local fans will definitely expect Wang Chuqin to be ready to play.
TREDING ARTICLE
Harimoto had a much more exhausting path to the final. He had to put in some serious effort to get past the Frenchman, Simon Gauzy, in the Round of 16. In the 1/4 final, there was another Japan vs. France duel coming up.
Felix Lebrun fought well and took the game to the decisive seventh set. It turned out to be a nerve-wrecking for both players. Eventually, Harimoto won the decider 11-9 and advanced to the next round. And it was again a fine spectacle for the fans at the arena. Harimoto faced Lin Shidong in another exhausting 7-set showdown. You can only admire the physical and mental state of Team Japan’s leader in this tournament. Whenever there was a tough challenge ahead, Harimoto succeeded. Lin Shidong had some spectacular plays, but he failed to win the points in the decisive moments.
Against Möregårdh, Harimoto got an early lead, and he kept himself ahead of the Swedish international up until the decisive sixth set, when the Japanese concluded the tournament with an 11-2 win.
Harimoto won his first World Tour Finals title back in 2018, when he was just 15 years old. Interestingly, now Harimoto is just 22 years old, but he’s already a seasoned veteran at such a young age. His victory in this tournament is well-deserved, and it will definitely lighten his mood after the incident he faced at the 2025 Mixed Team World Cup.
HARIMOTO’S WAY TO THE FINAL
ROUND OF 16
4-2 vs.
Simon Gauzy (5-11, 11-5, 11-9, 5-11, 11-8, 11-7)
1/4 FINAL
4-3 vs. Felix Lebrun (12-14, 11-8, 12-10, 11-3, 8-11, 7-11, 11-9)
1/2 FINAL
4-3 vs.
Lin Shidong (12-10, 11-4, 10-12, 10-12, 11-6, 7-11, 11-8)
FINAL
4-2 vs.
Truls Möregårdh (11-8, 5-11, 11-8, 10-12, 14-12, 11-2)Don’t miss out the news from Table Tennis Media, subscribing to our free newsletter and explore the premium content on our Patreon.
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How ETTU rewards failed management. The Ina Jozepsone case
The story about the conflict of interest involving ETTU vice-president Ina Jozepsone caught the attention of a leading news outlet in Latvia. And for a reason. The Latvian Table Tennis Federation and European Table Tennis Union seem to have lost touch with reality.
Imagine a scenario in which a person gets a CEO position in a company and, year after year, this person presents losses in the annual financial report. Normally, such a CEO would either lose his job or be relegated to some minor role in the company. But what does ETTU do in a similar situation? It promotes a failed CEO to a higher position… Sounds absurd, yet it’s the harsh reality of European table tennis.
But let’s look at the numbers, so it’s not just a baseless claim. Thanks to our Latvian colleagues, we got a translation of the annual financial audits of the Latvian Table Tennis Federation (LTTF) and some other publicly available documentation related to this topic.
THE LATVIAN TABLE TENNIS FEDERATION’S FINANCES DURING JOZEPSONE’S PRESIDENCY
Ina Jozepsone has been a part of the Latvian Federation since 2000. In 2017, she was elected as the president of this federation, and you can see that LTTF is largely living off the Latvian government funds, or simply, the Latvian taxpayers’ money. Since Jozepsone became the president of LTTF, the government funds have made 41-75% of the federation’s budget, depending on the year. However, LTTF during her presidency has been awful in terms of generating income. On average, in these 8 years, income has been just 11%, so the federation can get back barely 1/10 of what it needs to simply exist.
The interesting part is the dynamics of the LTTF budget since 2021, when Jozepsone became the ETTU vice-president. Suddenly, the Latvian table tennis saw an influx of government funds, and the income also rose. You can clearly see a correlation between the ETTU vice-presidency and the growing budget of LTTF.
At the same time, it’s completely unclear why ETTU members entrusted this position to a national federation president who has run it so poorly for years. Is this a subsidiary project by ETTU to somehow boost the income of local federations by promoting the poorest table tennis countries into the European power positions? The answer is unclear, but it looks like basically anyone can get into vice-presidency, no matter how poorly the person works on the local level. You don’t need any merits.
And if you think that table tennis in general lacks funding, you are right. But look at the next two infographics.
THE LITHUANIAN TABLE TENNIS ASSOCIATION’S FINANCES IN THE SAME TIME PERIOD
THE COMPARISON OF FEDERATION INCOMES – LATVIA VS. LITHUANIA
As you can see, the Latvian neighbor, Lithuania, has been generating 2.5 times more income during the same time period, and even during the pandemic, Lithuanians were able to generate a solid income. Lithuania’s worst-performing year wasn’t far off from Latvia’s best-performing, which was during Jozepsone’s ETTU vice-presidency.
So one country is able to generate several times bigger income even without the patronage of ETTU, but you won’t find any Lithuanian representatives among the ETTU board. The Lithuanian table tennis level is also higher than the Latvian, but somehow the official from the poorest-performing country out of the three Baltic states is now representing Europe on the global table tennis stage.
Where are the professionals who should be improving the position of table tennis among dozens of more popular sports in Europe? You don’t hire a manager from a small local company that isn’t self-sustainable to become a manager at Amazon or Google.
Unfortunately, table tennis lacks competent leaders who could elevate this game. World Table Tennis has at least made some sort of improvements. In a few instances, WTT listened to the criticism from the fans and media. It’s at least some sort of progress. ETTU looks like a laughing stock with its constant self-praise.
European table tennis overall seems to have a problem with these eternal officials, who spend decades as the board members of national federations. Like in the case of Jozepsone, who has been a part of the LTTF board for a quarter of a century, way too many people feel entitled to hold their influence forever. The problem of conflicts of interest is real, and it slows down the progress of table tennis as a sport.
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Team China wins the Mixed Team World Cup again, as Harimoto faced controversial moment
The 2025 ITTF Mixed Team World Cup concludes as expected. Team China adds another gold medal to its collection.
The reigning champions strike again! In front of the local fans in Chengdu, Team China claims another accolade, dominating the Mixed Team World Cup. In the final, the Chinese confidently overpowered Team Japan 8-1.
The tournament, however, saw some controversy and media criticism during the Stage 2 game between Japan and Korea. Tomokazu Harimoto’s name was mispronounced several times by the announcer, and the player hesitated to make his entry to the court. Harimoto was visibly frustrated, and afterwards, even the local Chinese media criticised the tournament organisers for disrespect towards the opposition’s star player.
Aside from this moment of controversy, the tournament overall brought plenty of quality table tennis action. Team China won their third consecutive title in this new format of mixed teams competition. They cruised past every opponent with confidence from Stage 1 up to the final match-up against Japan, rarely losing any of the matches.
Wang Chuqin had the biggest impact on Team China’s success, playing the most matches (12) and winning 27 out of 32 total sets. His 84% win rate isn’t elite, but it was good enough to bring the biggest amount of won sets to his team’s account. Lin Shidong was also crucial in China’s success, adding 25 won sets out of 30 total played.
The German team turned out to be the leading European side in this tournament, winning the bronze medals, thanks to the efforts of Dang Qiu, Benedikt Duda, and Patrick Franziska. Team Germany brought a well-balanced and experienced team to this competition. Ironically, the match for the bronze turned out to be much more interesting than the final.
They faced the Korean team, and the game had its ups and downs for both sides. Eventually, the score was 6-6 after the first four games, and the deciding match-up featured the women’s doubles players. Luckily for Team Germany, Sabine Winter and Nina Mittelham were able to turn the situation in their favor and get a decisive 2-1 victory against Lee Eun-hye and Choi Hyo-yoo.
Other leading European sides lacked that balance to get into the medal contention. Team France finished in fifth place, the Croatians were sixth, and Team Sweden had a disappointing run, losing all of their games in Stage 2, finishing in the 8th place. The absence of Truls Möregårdh lowered their chances of getting anywhere higher in the final rankings.
This tournament once again showed that in this format of the World Cup, the balanced roster is a key to success. A team might have two or even three excellent male players, but if their female counterparts cannot keep up with high expectations, the overall result gonna suffer a lot. Team France was a good example of this.
The Lebrun brothers had a solid run, bringing plenty of wins for the French. Felix Lebrun led his team with a 70% win rate, while Alexis Lebrun had a 61% win rate. However, the women’s side could provide significantly fewer wins for Team France. Only 36% by Prithika Pavade and 33% by Jia Nan-yuan.
Overall, the credit must be given to ITTF for this format of competition. The fact that every set matters really makes every player give 110% effort in every point. In singles competitions, one set sometimes does not change anything in a larger picture, but in this format, it can be crucial.
AdvertisementsRESULTS OF 2025 ITTF MIXED TEAM WORLD CUP
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Retired, but still the best in the World. Fan Zhendong claims the China National Games title
The 15th China National Games once again proved that the World Ranking in table tennis means nothing and WTT tournaments are massively overrated.
We all know that thanks to the absurd policies of World Table Tennis, the 2-time World champion in the singles event, Fan Zhendong, retired from international table tennis prior to this year, continuing his career only on club level in the Chinese Super League and the German Bundesliga.
The China National Games (CNG) is a very important tournament for the local players. Even the greatest player of all time, Ma Long, once said that it’s his dream to win this tournament. For the rest of the players, CNG is a great opportunity to display their talent and gain some extra attention from the national team coaches. If a player performs well in CNG, he will definitely get some chances outside China.
Fan Zhendong has nothing to prove anymore. Both individually and as a member of Team China, he won every possible tournament out there, and he will hold the position of one of the greatest players in history forever. Still, he has plenty of competitive drive left in him, and despite being out of the international competitions, Fan Zhendong remains the best player in the World. If someone beats two of the leading players in table tennis at the moment, what questions can there be about his current form?
AdvertisementsEven more impressive is the fact that Fan Zhendong did not even face much resistance from Wang Chuqin and Lin Shidong, confidently getting past both of them on the way to the title. In both the semi-final and the final, the reigning Olympic champion controlled the pace of the game, and his backhand was sensational. He made his opponents look pretty much hopeless.
Of course, this impressive performance raises plenty of discussion among the fans. What if… And this sentence could be continued with all kinds of statements. World Championships, WTT tour – would Fan Zhendong still be the main favorite to win the titles out there? After CNG, there should be no doubts. Of course, training and traveling with Team China, and being in a care-free mode in Germany are two completely different situations. Being back in the international action would take a bigger toll on his physical condition, and the potential injury risk would increase.
However, if you put Fan Zhendong in any specific short-term tournament, he can beat anyone and still win any of the major tournaments out there.
This success once again proves that it’s meaningless to make a big buzz about some WTT Smash or WTT Champions win. Some players might get those high rankings and then simply flop when the Olympic Games or the World Championships are on the horizon. Different levels of responsibility and preparation from the Team China side.
As we have highlighted several times, World Table Tennis has been awful in terms of creating a fair World Ranking system. If you can have three Australians in the Top 50, who cannot get past even the first round of any major tournament, then such a World Ranking is worth no more than a kid’s menu in McDonald’s…
Nevertheless, it was great to see Fan Zhendong battling the World’s best players once again. Who knows, if some injuries happen in Team China or any other bad luck before the next World Championships, maybe we will have a chance to see Fan Zhendong on the international scene once again. The top quality is still there.
FAN ZHENDONG’S ROAD TO GOLD
FINAL
4-1 vs. Lin Shidong (11-9, 8-11, 11-5, 11-3, 11-4)
1/2 FINAL
4-2 vs. Wang Chuqin (7-11, 11-9, 9-11, 11-7, 11-5, 11-7)
1/4 FINAL
4-0 vs. Sun Zheng (11-8, 11-3, 11-6, 11-8)
ROUND OF 16
4-1 vs. Xue Fei (11-4, 11-2, 11-5, 10-12, 11-6)
ROUND OF 32
4-0 vs. Zhou Yu (12-10, 11-6, 11-8, 11-6)Don’t miss out the news from Table Tennis Media, subscribing to our free newsletter and explore the premium content on our Patreon.
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Team China brings back another gold from the Asian Championships
Indian city Bhubaneswar hosted the 28th Asian Table Tennis Championships, bringing together some of the strongest table tennis collectives in the World, including the reigning Olympic and World champions – Team China.
The road to the gold medals was quite a rocky one. The trio that had all the responsibilities on their shoulders, Wang Chuqin, Liang Jingkun, and Lin Shidong, faced a tough challenge in the semi-final against the Japanese team. As it sometimes happens, the true final was played in an earlier round.
Lin Shidong had an unfortunate slip in the 1/4 final round, when he lost to the rising Iranian talent, Benyamin Faraji. It took five sets for the young Iranian to beat the vice-leader of the World Ranking. His teammates, however, did not face much resistance from the other opponents, and Shidong himself had a chance to seal the deal with a 3-0 win against Noshad Alamiyan.
The semi-final against the Japanese team that took out the Koreans (3-1), turned out to be the pinnacle of the tournament. Five long-fought games, and each one was an intense, five-set showdown. The Japanese turned out to be a worthy opponent, having all their leading players in the line-up.
Tomokazu Harimoto and Sora Matsushima made the Japanese fans feel highly hopeful after wins over Liang Jingkun and Wang Chuqin in the first two games. Lin Shidong had all eyes on him in the match-up against Hiroto Shinozuka. He had to secure a victory to keep Team China afloat. His opponent put up some solid resistance, but Lin Shidong was able to take the win.
Liang Jingkun and Wang Chuqin then had to make a comeback and bring back the missing, crucial points on the way to the final. Wang Chuqin took on Harimoto, and after a long-fought 3-2 victory, Liang Jingkun stepped in against Matsushima. The Japanese had a great start to the game, taking a 2-0 lead. But as it often has happened, Liang Jingkun was able to make an amazing comeback and get that decisive 3-2 win, leading Team China into the final.
A pity for the neutral fans, the final turned out to be very one-sided, since Hong Kong’s players could not do much against the Team China trio. 3-0 win sealed the deal and added another gold medal to the great collection of China’s achievements. Tournament draws can sometimes be unfair, since the Japanese team definitely was worthy of the final, but they had to be satisfied with the bronze medals. An opposite situation was for Hong Kong. They were lucky that Chinese Taipei played this tournament without their leader, Lin Yun-ju.
2025 ASIAN TEAM TABLE TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS RESULTS
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ETTU’s vice-president Ina Jozepsone and her Family Business in the Latvian Table Tennis Federation
This is family business. Kanye West song fits this story well. Our recent video about the promotion of Latvian interests over the European by it’s vice-president Ina Jozepsone, caught some attention. However, there is much more to uncover. Our research on this topic has gone further and thanks to some of the journalists from the Latvian media outlets, we have a better picture of everything related to the Latvian Table Tennis Federation. This organization is a pure example, of why it should be forbidden for close relatives to be involved in the same organization. Otherwise, nepotism and personal interests prevail.
As you can see, Jozepsone has no ethical dilemmas about holding two positions at the same time that are creating a conflict of interest (especially, seeing all the recent favors Latvia is getting). Or promoting her son’s playing career, using the high position in the local federation, as well as involving his father into another position that is available in the Latvian federation. Recently, it went even further, and Daniels Kogans might become one of the members of the ETTU’s Athlete Commission. Why not? Family Business could go beyond Latvian borders. ETTU seems in favor of it.
An interesting case is Aleksandrs Maskaļonoks and his addition to the board of the Latvian federation. A Latvian international, who has ranked 1140th in the World Ranking back in 2018, Maskaļonoks, along with several other Latvian players, has been disqualified by TT Cup (one of those basement tournaments, where some betting companies allow to put bets even on the games of complete amateurs) for undisclosed reasons. Estonian media outlet Delfi.ee published a few very good materials about this tournament specifics. What could cause Maskaļonoks and other players to receive a disqualification in such kind of a tournament where players get paid 8-20 euros for simply participating… The question remains open.
But as you can see, reputational damages do not matter for LTTF or Jozepsone, as long as the newly-elected board member can be useful, and help bringing in some lucrative sponsorship deals from the betting company he works for. Too much of the word betting around this story, don’t you find?
We tried to find out the opinion of the president of the European Table Tennis Union, Pedro Moura. Unfortunately, he has ignored our letters and such Ostrich effect looks like an approval of ETTU towards all these weird things going on around Ina Jozepsone and her shady activities in the LTTF and ETTU. It honestly looks that table tennis administration is in its all-time lowest point. ITTF president Petra Sörling made the ITTF elections look like a circus and a complete disgrace, Ina Jozepsone promotes her personal interests on all levels, and ETTU president Pedro Moura seems to be the ostrich in this case, enjoying the Depeche Mode masterpiece, and silently bowing to this kind of behavior by his colleagues. Ironically, these are the same people, who love to bring up and talk about the transparency, accountability inclusivity and popularization of table tennis.
“Strong governance is fundamental to supporting growth innovation and inclusivity. Transparency integrity and accountability are core principles that will guide my leadership. We’ve already built a solid foundation with our Strategic Plan and I pledge to continue ensuring that the ETTU operates with these values maintaining regular communication with all member associations. We want to remain aligned with their needs and aspirations,” in an interview once said Pedro Moura.
What a shameless hypocrite…
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Wang Chuqin wins his first World Championships title, as WTT brought another poorly organized tournament
The image of the World Table Tennis Championships is getting worse under the rule of World Table Tennis. We saw a disappointing organization in Durban, back in 2023. The tournament in Doha presented a similar list of issues that made the overall impression of this prestigious competition look bleak.
Pink tables, an absolutely unfair and disastrous draw system, traditionally bad camera angles, annoying commentating by Adam Bobrow, and an almost non-existent atmosphere and ambiance in the hall, unless the Chinese fans had someone to cheer for. WTT did not take any notes from the worst-organized World Championships in Durban. Zero interest in the growth of this tournament, just pure financial interest to sell it to some wealthy country. However, compared to football, bringing table tennis to Doha was a bargain for Qatar.
To expect any kind of progress or acknowledgment of their mistakes from World Table Tennis is completely useless at this point. So let’s look at the positives. More precisely, the sole positive thing this tournament brought was World-class talent and some truly exciting matchups on the way to the final.
One of the main surprises of this tournament was the Englishman – Tom Jarvis. He enjoyed a fine run, making it to the Round of 16, and beating the 2022 European champion Dang Qiu on the way. Jarvis showed some solid resistance to Liang Jingkun, and this tournament will be one to remember for the Englishman. But is he just a one-hit-wonder or someone, who will bring consistent late-round exits in the next World & continental championships – only time will show. Age-wise, the best years are still ahead of him.
The one who once again wrote his name in the history books was Liang Jingkun. He has been a medalist in the singles event for four consecutive World Championships. Only 8 players in history have been able to achieve this incredible feat. Liang Jingkun throughout the years has become the most reliable, consistent, and mentally strong Chinese player. His loss to Hugo Calderano in the semi-final was a hard-fought battle and by far the tournament’s most dramatic and quality match. Liang Jingkun might lack the singles gold medal on his resume, but this year’s achievement cemented his name on the list of table tennis all-time greats. We need to value consistency more.
PLAYERS WITH 4 OR MORE CONSECUTIVE MEDALS IN THE WTTC SINGLES EVENT
Viktor Barna
6 times1930 
1931 
1932 1933 1934 1935 Ma Long
6 times2009 
2011 2013 2015 2017 2019 
Bohumil Vana
5 times1938 1939 1947 1948 1949 Guo Yuehua
4 times1977 1979 1981 1983 
Richard Bergmann1936 1937 1938 1939 Jan-Ove Waldner
4 times1987 1989 1991 1993 Wang Hao
4 times2007 2009 2011 2013 Liang Jingkun
4 times2019 2021 2023 2025 Of course, the main heroes of this event were the finalists Wang Chuqin and Hugo Calderano. The Brazilian was able to maintain his excellent form from the World Cup run and get past Liang Jingkun in the semi-final. Wang Chuqin did not face much resistance on the way to the final, losing no more than two sets in a single game. In the final, the Chinese star looked confident and was always a step ahead of his opponent. Calderano had an exhausting semi-final both, physically and mentally, and it probably played some part in his bleak final’s performance. Nevertheless, it was a historic run for the Brazilian. His name will be in the history books of the sport for sure.
The players outside Asia have definitely shortened the gap between them and the Chinese leading players. At the same time, Team China faces the change of generations and two monumental players retired at the start of this year. Wang Chuqin and his teammates had a lot of pressure on them, and while they failed to cement their dominance in the doubles events, the singles event did not disappoint.
In conclusion, the World Championships has clearly lost its appeal and true sense under the WTT rule. In the past, it was a tournament for the World. Every nation had a chance to participate and enjoy the atmosphere of this massive event. Now it moves towards being an elitist tournament with zero chance for the athletes from small nations (except Oceania and its absurd promotion) to get a taste of taking part in the World Championships. This concept is wrong in its core. But no organization is eternal. One day World Table Tennis will be replaced with some new organization, and hopefully, it will bring back the glory to this tournament. Currently, the hashtag #ShameToWTT is all that this incompetent organization deserves.
MEDALISTS OF THE 2025 WORLD TABLE TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS
SINGLES EVENT Player Age WR 2023 WTTC
Performance Wang Chuqin25 2 
Hugo Calderano28 3 R128 Liang Jingkun28 5 Truls Moregardh23 7 R32 DOUBLES EVENT 
Shunsuke Togami Hiroto Shinozuka23
2130
28R16
DNP
Lin Yun-ju Kao Cheng-jui23
2012
24DNP
R64 Felix Lebrun Alexis Lebrun18
216
8R16
R16 Esteban Dorr Florian Bourrassaud25
2599
134DNP
DNPMIXED DOUBLES EVENT Wang Chuqin Sun Yingsha25
242
1 Maharu Yoshimura Satsuki Odo31
2173
8DNP
DNP
Wong Chun-ting Doo Hoi Kem33
2847
38
Lim Jong-hoon Shin Yubin28
2044
101/4 FINAL
1/4 FINALDon’t miss out the news from Table Tennis Media, subscribing to our free newsletter and explore the premium content on our Patreon.
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Can Hugo Calderano keep up his form at the World Championships after his World Cup triumph?
The career of Hugo Calderano has been an interesting journey with some recent ups and some painful downs in the past. To some extent, the Brazilian star has been lucky to represent the South American continent, since the wins on the continental level have been a solid boost for his World Rankings points.
In 2025, Calderano was finally able to break his spell of unsuccessful runs at the major tournaments, and he won the World Cup in Macao, displaying a truly consistent form in every game. However, the history shows that winning the World Cup isn’t really a guarantee for success at the most important tournament that everyone dreams of winning – the World Championships.
And it totally makes sense. It’s very difficult even for the best players to reach the peak of their powers twice in the same year. Usually, it happens just once a year. When the biggest tournament of the year is coming up, all the preparation process is set up to bring the best performance specifically at that time. That’s why the Chinese players can sometimes have disappointing games at pro tours or the World Cup, but then come up strong when it counts the most at the World Championships. This tournament matters the most.
Let’s look at the historical perspective of this topic in an infographic below.
The performance of the World Cup Winners at the World Table Tennis Championships of the same year.
As you can see, of the 20 World Cup winners, only 8 were able to win a medal at the singles event of the World Championships. Only two of them were non-Chinese players – Jörgen Persson and Zoran Primorac. Looking purely on numbers, Hugo Calderano has less than a 50% chance to keep up his impressive form and win his first medal at the WTTC.
In addition to this, the pressure levels will be much higher in Qatar, and the Chinese team will definitely do their homework to analyze Calderano’s game even more carefully to avoid the mistakes they had in Macao. The stakes at the World Championships are very high, and for the Chinese players, it’s traditionally a must-win mentality.
If Calderano can add another major accolade in Qatar, it will finally push his name into that list of all-time great players. Not on the same level as the World champions (unless he wins it), but at least Calderano could be recognized as a player who can actually win something big on the biggest stage. Considering his style of play, it might be one of the last great opportunities to strengthen his legacy and shine on the biggest stage.
Can Calderano do it and prove the statistics wrong? The question remains open until the end of this month.
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TT Saitama makes history, winning its first Japanese T-League title against Harimoto’s club
One of the most competitive leagues in the World saw an exciting final match-up of the 2024/25 season.
The Japanese T-League’s 2024/25 season saw some historical changes, as two new clubs (Kanazawa Port and Shizuoka Jade) entered the elite of the local club competition and marked the league’s expansion. A debut for both of these clubs was far from successful as both of them failed to make it to the play-offs. Another historic moment was Kinoshita Meister Tokyo club’s performance this season. For the first time in its history, the club from Tokyo failed to finish the season with a medal.
The race for the best playoff spots was tight, as three clubs finished the regular season with 16 wins and 9 losses. The leader of the Japanese national team – Tomokazu Harimoto led the Ryukyu Asteeda club to the leading position of the regular season, winning 18 out of his 20 singles games. Individually, he was by far the most consistent player out there. The closest one to Harimoto in terms of wins was TT Saitama’s leading player Taimu Arinobu. He won 15 out of 21 games.
Traditionally, T-League featured some well-known international stars. Such as Lin Yun-ju, Lee Sang-su, Jang Woo-jin, and the experienced Chinese – Hao Shuai. The latter made the biggest impact on his team’s success, finishing the regular season with 13 wins and 9 losses.
The eventual champions TT Saitama had a very tough semi-final game against the Okayama Rivets. The 23-year-old Yukiya Uda turned out to be the hero of this match-up. He earned two points for his team, winning Yuma Tanigaki 3-2, and the one-set-showdown in a decisive game against Ryoichi Yoshiyama.
2400 spectators gathered for the final game of the season at the Yoyogi Gymnasium and they got to enjoy a great display of World-class action. Yukiya Uda continued to play consistently and he got a 3-2 win in a decisive game against the finalist of the 2025 All-Japan Championships – Hiroto Shinozuka. Tomokazu Harimoto had some difficulties against Kakeru Sone, but even an eventual 3-2 win did not help his team to win the title. Maharu Yoshimura and Cho Seung-min lost their doubles match and the experienced Yoshimura failed to win his singles match against Taimu Arinobu (1-3).
3-1 was the final score and emotions hit high as TT Saitama players were celebrating this historical success. The 2024/25 season brought plenty of excitement and T-League has been on a solid path of growth since its inaugural season back in 2018. The coverage of games and presentation is ahead of all the major European leagues and the level of the Japanese and foreign players is World-class. Hopefully, the league will continue its growth, and even more fans gonna attend the finals in 2026.
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