{"id":16533,"date":"2026-10-11T09:49:38","date_gmt":"2026-10-11T01:49:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/?p=16533"},"modified":"2026-10-11T09:49:40","modified_gmt":"2026-10-11T01:49:40","slug":"fourth-title-for-chinese-pair-first-for-korean-duo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/fourth-title-for-chinese-pair-first-for-korean-duo\/","title":{"rendered":"Fourth title for Chinese pair, first for Korean duo"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Kuai Man and Wang Manyu have won their fourth WTT Grand Smash title together, overcoming the No.1 seeds Hina Hayata and Miwa Harimoto 13-11, 11-2, 9-11, 11-7 in the China Smash table championships women’s doubles final.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lim Jonghoon and Oh Junsung have won their first WTT Grand Smash men\u2019s doubles title as a pair, beating the World No.1 team, Alexis Lebrun and Felix Lebrun 11-8, 5-11, 11-9, 11-9.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three months after they squared off in the final at United States Smash 2026, where Man and Manyu won 3-1 to claim their third WTT Grand Smash title together, these two elite teams were back fighting it out for one of the biggest titles of the season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Man and Manyu, victory secured China their first title at their home WTT Grand Smash, but disappointment for their Japanese counterparts, who were looking to make history and become the first women\u2019s doubles pair to win three titles at this level in a season. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The match went better than I expected. Although we won 3-1, we actually struggled in the first and third games. That said, we took 10-5 and 7-3 leads in those sets, which is why I felt the match went better than my expectations. However, when we were leading, some of our shot placements and approaches in the first three shots were a bit too conservative. I also felt I didn\u2019t bring enough variation to my game. Although we won, there are still many lessons to learn,” said Man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another momentum swing followed, with Hayata and Harimoto saving four game points, closing the gap to one, and forcing the Chinese side to use their time out early in the match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hayata and Harimoto, who also went all the way at WTT Star Contender Ljubljana, made a strong start, storming to a 5-1 lead in the opener, but it wasn\u2019t long before the No.2 seeds woke up and blew the World No.1 pair away to hit 10 in a row and set up five game points. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back at the table, Hayata and Harimoto drew their opponents into a thunderous rally, saving that final game point to go into the deuce game, but after all that hard work, the Japanese pair were unable to convert, and Man and Manyu finally took the first game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From there, Man and Manyu were ruthless, and this time did not let their advantage slip, setting up eight game points in the second and converting on the first attempt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But not all hope was lost for Hayata and Harimoto, who took eight from a last possible 10 to come from behind and take the must-win Game Three.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The start of game four saw one of the points of the match, with Manyu and Harimoto running from side to side well away from the table to return, while Man and Hayata were cleaning up from the front as the Japanese pair started to throw everything at their Chinese opponents in a last-ditch attempt to force a decider. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But with the score tied after 12 points, Man and Manyu started to pull away and took their second of four championship points to claim their second WTT Grand Smash title of the year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

First title as a pair for Korean duo<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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This was only the second time the Korean players and the Lebrun brothers had met at the table, with Joonghoon-Junsung springing a surprise 3-1 win in the semifinal of WTT Star Contender Muscat 2025, their last encounter, an event they went on to lift the title in.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the final got underway in Infinity \u221e Arena, Joonghoon-Junsung picked up where they left off, converting their fourth of six Game Points to draw first blood.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this best-of-three match, it was crucial that the Lebrun brothers, who were looking to add the China Smash 2026 title to their Singapore Smash 2026 and Europe Smash – Sweden 2026 triumphs, took the next one. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the WTT Finals Fukuoka 2024 champions did just that, putting Joonghoon-Junsung firmly in their place with a commanding Game Two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jonghoon has already won a title this week in Beijing, taking the mixed doubles title with Shin Yubin. He has also won a WTT Grand Smash men\u2019s doubles title before, going all the way with An Jaehyun at United States Smash 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the Koreans were going to win this one, they would need to lean on Jonghoon\u2019s championship-winning experience, and in game three, he was the orchestrator as the No.4 seeds came back from 1-4 down to level at 6-6.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That run of points forced the French brothers to use their time out, but momentum was with Joonghoon-Junsung, and the four-time WTT Series title winners were now just one win away from a first WTT Grand Smash.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking to force a decider, the Lebruns managed to level the fourth at 9-9, but could not deny Joonghoon-Junsung history, as the two denied the No.1 seeds a hat-trick of titles, punched the air in delight, and embraced as their first WTT Grand Smash title was secured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Manyu also in singles final against Sato<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

World No.2 Manyu has once again defeated World No.3 Miwa Harimoto 11-8, 11-7, 7-11, 11-5, 11-8 as she looked to defend her women\u2019s singles title. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She will take on Hitomi Sato, who has made history by becoming the first Japanese person to make a WTT Grand Smash Women\u2019s Singles final, beating Chen Xingtong 2-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-9, 11-8.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heading into this tie, Manyu had never lost to Harimoto on the WTT Series, and their most recent meeting saw the Chinese star win 4-2 in the quarterfinals of Singapore Smash, and the No.2 seed quickly went about extending that winning run as she cruised through the first two games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harimoto has been one of the best players on the WTT Series this season, winning three WTT Champions titles on the bounce. However, Manyu is a player she has always struggled against. In 13 matches across all international competitions, the Japanese teenager has only won one match. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If Harimoto was going to pull off a monumental comeback and make her first WTT Grand Smash final, she needed to get going quickly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In game three, Harimoto called a time out when her 3-6 lead shrank to 5-6. When she returned to the table, she immediately conceded two points, but then hit five on the spin to get her first win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite Harimoto\u2019s hard work to reduce the deficit to one game, Manyu ensured her opponent\u2019s celebration was short-lived and brought Harimoto crashing back down to earth with the most dominant display of the match so far. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the other side of the table, Harimoto cut a frustrated figure, shaking her head and talking to herself when she conceded. Staring down the barrel of three match points, the 18-year-old\u2019s night was summed up when she sliced her shot horribly wide to give Manyu the win. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Manyu Wang will now face Japan\u2019s Sato in the women\u2019s singles final on Sunday, as she hunts her 10th WTT title and her fourth WTT Grand Smash success. For Harimoto, that dream of a WTT Grand Smash title will have to wait a little longer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, Xingtong, who overcame the world\u2019s second-best chopper, Hashimoto, picked up where she left off in this match against the best chopper, going up 4-0 and 9-2 in the first game, sealing the win with her first of eight game points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sato, on the hunt to also become the first chopper to reach a WTT Grand Smash final, started the second much better. The 28-year-old limited Chen\u2019s attacks, and Game Two sank into Sato\u2019s preferred pace: long, drawn-out rallies where she could bide her time before springing a quick forehand attack to win the point, taking a 9-4 lead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Xingtong, appearing in her fifth WTT Grand Smash semifinal and aiming for her first final at this level, clawed it back to 9-8 when the expedite rule, Sato\u2019s second of the week, came into effect. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new format of the match played into Sato\u2019s favour: she picked the time to attack perfectly, but also shut down everything Chen threw at her, and went ahead for the first time and then moved to within one of a historic win. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chen had to go for it now as she entered three must-win games, and the 29-year-old started to launch her attacks earlier, but again, Sato was utterly resilient and cried tears of joy when she eliminated China\u2019s No.7 seed in Beijing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile in the men’s singles Hugo Calderano is proving to be the man to beat taking down top seed seed Felix Lebruin in 43 minutes 9-11, 11-9, 12-10, 12-10, 11-9 in the quarter-finals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The last men\u2019s singles quarterfinal saw Lin Yun-Ju make light work of Truls Moregard 11-7, 11-9, 11-9, 11-7.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kuai Man and Wang Manyu have won their fourth WTT Grand Smash title together, overcoming the No.1 seeds<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16534,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[65],"class_list":["post-16533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsbeat","tag-table-tennis"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t