Miwa Harimoto-Hina Hayata (Photo WTT)
Two more doubles teams wrote their name in WTT Grand Smash history last night as Miwa Harimoto-Hina Hayata in the women’s doubles crown, and the Lebrun brothers – Felix and Alexis won the men’s doubles title at Singapore Smash table tennis championships.
Both wins are the first time players from France and Japan have won a Grand Smash title across all disciplines.
The Lebrun brothers beat Lin Shidong-Huang Youzheng 11-6, 11-6, 11-7. The French pair made an electric start to their final, getting to five game points in the first and four in the second.
Both teams shared the first 12 points in the final game before the brothers started to pull away and moved two points away from victory. Their impeccable performance continued, and soon enough, they were serving for championship point, which was converted with a phenomenal backhand by Felix, cueing scenes of jubilation as the two embraced in Infinity ∞ Arena.
Before that, Hayata-Harimoto took down World No.14 team Miyu Nagasaki-Shin Yubin in straight-games 11-9, 11-8, 11-7 to claim their first WTT event as a pair.
Despite playing together for the first time, the two have a great record with other players in women’s doubles. Harimoto won six women’s doubles titles in 2025, four of which came with Satsuki Odo. Hayata is one-half of the World No.10 that features Joo Cheonhui, and the two made it to the final of China Smash 2025.
“I teamed up with Odo at Europe Smash last year, and we were the finalists, so I’m delighted that I’ve beaten my personal best here at a Grand Smash event. The fact that we are the first Japanese players, men or women, to win the title makes me really happy too. Next time, I’m aiming to do better in my Singles and Mixed Doubles matches – I’d like to work together with Team Japan so that we can achieve good results,” said Harimoto.
The Japanese pair built a commanding 4-1 lead in the first game before Nagasaki-Shin Yubin clawed it back to 4-4. While the soon-to-be champions always kept their noses in front, Nagasaki-Shin Yubin were constantly nipping at their heels, saving game point before eventually conceding the opener.
The combined force of the Korea and Japan players then went ahead 1-4 in game two, but a lesson in footwork and athleticism from the Japanese came to the table at 3-5 as they won six of the next eight and took Game Two.
The Japanese blew Nagasaki-Shin Yubin away with a flurry of points to go 8-3 up in the final game. A brief resurgence saw that gap closed to three points, but the damage had been done, and Harimoto-Hayata could not conceal their smiles as they sealed their first title at their first WTT tournament together.
