Wang Chuqin (Photo WTT)
Wang Chuqin produced a crushing performance in the men’s singles final at the China Smash, dispatching Felix Lebrun in straight games 11-7, 11-2, 11-5, 11-7.
Sprinting onto Infinity ∞ Arena, Felix Lebrun was excited to sink his teeth into his first WTT Grand Smash singles final. But if he didn’t already know what to expect inside the cauldron, he’d quickly find out, as the Beijing crowd ramped up the decibels for Wang Chuqin, who entered the arena with a ferocious look etched across his face.
Serenaded by wave after wave of fans chanting his name, Wang Chuqin made his presence felt right from the off, hammering through the ball with venom in game one to pile all the early pressure on his young opponent.
Before he knew what hit him, Lebrun was already a game down on the scoreboard, and a tough start soon became a whole lot more troubling for the French star. Continuing where he left off in the opener, Wang Chuqin somehow upped the tempo even further, unleashing breakneck speed in every rally to tighten his grip.
Given no room to manoeuvre, and very little in the way of opportunity to work his way into the contest, Lebrun tried everything at his disposal to turn the tide. Calling time out at 2-0 down in game three, Lebrun understandably approached his coaching corner with an air of disgruntlement, clearly frustrated with the way the match was playing out from his perspective. While the initial response was promising, it just simply wasn’t clicking for the 19-year-old in this title showdown.
Looking just as unstoppable as he was at United States Smash 2025 back in July, Wang Chuqin needed just four games to clean up in that Final, and the pattern continued in the China Smash title showdown, seizing the moment with his blinding best.
“It’s more of a relief. I think this time has been an enormous test of my mental strength. There were moments when I thought about giving up or had a lot of negative signals when I was in my room. With my perseverance and the desire to play, once I stepped onto the court, I still wanted to win the match. Maybe chances to win three titles again will be rare in the future, so I’ll just take it as a beautiful memory worth cherishing,” said Wang Chuqin.
Lifting his second Men’s Singles winner’s trophy on this season’s WTT Grand Smash stage, Wang Chuqin collects his fourth WTT Grand Smash singles title overall. A man who last month returned to the ITTF World Ranking summit as World No.1, Wang leaves China Smash with three titles, adding to his Men’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles successes, reaffirming his status as the gold standard.
As for Felix Lebrun, it’s not the dream finish he was hoping for. However, the penhold sensation still leaves Beijing with a historic result as the first French player to reach a singles final at WTT Grand Smash level.
Meanwhile, Wang Manyu is a WTT Grand Smash champion once again, holding aloft one of the season’s most coveted titles following a commanding 4-2 victory over last year’s champion Sun Yingsha in the women’s singles Final (10-12, 11-7, 11-9, 11-5, 8-11, 11-2).
Meeting in a WTT Grand Smash Final for the third time, play got underway to the wild excitement of the crowd, with Sun racing ahead 1–5 in the opening game. A few unforced errors from the top seed, combined with some brilliant play from Wang, saw the score level at 5–5, and the Final was ready to burst into life.
From there, it was nip and tuck, as Wang saved two game points to bring the score to deuce. However, an unfortunate net cord proved costly, allowing Sun to edge the game 10–12.
The second unfolded much like the first, with Sun once again racing 1–5 ahead, only for Wang to fight back to level at 5–5.
Showing masterful precision and control, Wang absorbed ShaSha’s blistering topspin attacks and turned the tide, taking the game 11–7 to level the match on Infinity ∞ Arena.
There was little separating the two players in the third game, with play brought to a stand-still at 9-9. Commanding topspin play saw Wang take the first point, before a lightning-fast backhand flick shot past her opponent to take her first advantage in the Final.
Wang opened the fourth game with brute force, hitting past ShaSha to take the first six points in a row. Mind-boggling table tennis continued to follow, with an 18-shot length rally sending fans into a frenzy in Beijing. But Wang was simply indomitable, taking the game 11-5 to raise the tension across Shougang Park.
Consistency proved decisive in the fifth, as Wang struggled to keep pace with the World No.1 during the crucial stages. Sun maintained her composure to close out 8–11, heading to the towel with now just one game separating the two in yet another heated affair between the two superstars.
However, the momentum shifted dramatically in the sixth. Wang came out firing, dominating from the outset and dictating the pace of play. A breath-taking 27-shot rally at 4–2 electrified the crowd, and from that moment on, Wang was unstoppable, sealing the game, match, and title with a commanding 11–2 flourish.
An outstanding performance and a remarkable achievement for Wang Manyu sees the World No.2 capture her second WTT Grand Smash winner’s title in the Women’s Singles discipline, and her first WTT Series victory over Sun Yingsha since Singapore Smash 2022, doing it on home soil.
“I’ve faced Shasha many times in Women’s Singles finals, and I’ve had more defeats than wins. Actually, I lost in all our recent finals. So this time, I came in with a good mindset, ready to give it everything I had to really challenge her. Also, I was able to stay focused throughout the match. Looking back at the recent events, there have been both positives and areas for improvement. Here, Kuai Man and I won the Women’s Doubles title, and there are lessons to take from our partnership. As for the Women’s Singles, I hope to carry forward the things I did well and work with my coach to review the areas where I fell short,” said Wang Manyu.
