Nikita Artemenko (Photo WTT)
World No.231 Nikita Artemenko stole the show in the men’s singles at the WTT Feeder Cappadocia 2026, fighting from the qualifying group all the way lifting the title in stunning fashion.
Darius Movileanu, who saved four match points in his semifinals, fought tooth and nail to force the final to a deciding game. But the Romanian merely delayed the final outcome as Artemenko produced one last charge, emptying the tank to lay claim to his first WTT winner’s trophy with a 5-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-13, 11-7 win.
The left-hander had showed tremendous character in the round of 32, overturning a 1-2 deficit to move past Evgeny Tikhonov in 13-11, 11-13, 10-12, 11-6, 11-6. Artemenko was at it again one round later, overcoming an early setback to stun the event’s No.5 seed Ovidiu Ionescu 7-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-6.
Türkiye’s own Ibrahim Gunduz and Abdullah Yigenler were the next to feel Artemenko’s wrath, leaving just one man standing between the qualifier and the title.
Eighteen-year-old Rin Mende landed her first big breakthrough as a senior player, getting her hands on the women’s singles trophy.
Mende, who has scored countless titles on the WTT Youth Series over the past few years, only made her senior debut in November 2025 and was competing on the WTT Feeder Series for only the third time in her young career.
However, that inexperience didn’t hold her back in Cappadocia, tearing her way through the playing field with ruthless tenacity. Mende did not drop a single game on her way to the final, and she’d hold onto that 100% record all the way, dispatching surprise finalist Yui Sakuma 11-5, 11-4, 12-10 to end the week blemish-free.
There were historic scenes in the Women’s Doubles event as Syndrela Das and Divyanshi Bhowmick became the youngest-ever doubles champions at a WTT senior event.
Their 3-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-8 victory over top seeds Ng Wing Lam-Wong Hoi Tung meant Das (16) and Bhowmick (15) hold the youngest combined age of any previous doubles champion in WTT history (31 years, 8 months and 1 day).
That number sees the Indian duo leapfrog the previous record holders Anne Uesawa-Yuna Ojio, who boasted a combined age of 33 years, 10 months and 11 days when they took the plaudits at WTT Feeder Doha 2024.
