Ying Han has recorded one of the greatest wins of her career, knocking out WTT Champions Doha 2026 top seed Wang Manyu over seven gruelling games 11-6, 4-11, 11-7, 10-12, 11-4, 8-11, 11-6.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Han went into the tie as the World No. 22, and before today had never progressed past the quarterfinal at a WTT Champions event. Manyu is the current World No.2 and only recently defended her WTT Finals Women\u2019s Singles title.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOf course, I am extremely pleased with my performance because I have never beaten her before; the best I ever did was win one game against her. My goal today was to win two games, and when I won the third game, I started to get a little bit of belief. And then I just wanted to give it my all for every point,\u201d said Han.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This match was Han\u2019s third quarterfinal at this level, but the win was not just a giant killing. Edging Manyu over seven games means Han has become the oldest player to reach a WTT Champions semifinal, aged 42 years and 256 days old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The potential for an upset became evident early, when Han stormed to a 5-1 lead. Manyu closed the gap to 6-5, but Han again fired off a series of winners to take the first game.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When playing the world\u2019s best, taking the first game is one thing, but the real test comes in the second, after they have had a chance to study your game and adjust. Manyu was utterly ruthless in this game, at one point leading 9-1.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But again, Han recovered by smashing a series of points past Manyu, taking a five-point lead in Game 3 and then going 8-0 up in the fifth after Wang won the fourth.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The final game was much of the same: The pair shared the first four points before Han ran away with a lead of 6-2 and 10-4 before taking the game. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Manyu and Han met here in Doha last year, with Wang completing a 4-1 win over the German defender at ITTF World Table Tennis Championships Finals Doha.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Han will now move into Sunday\u2019s semifinal, where she will once again have to pull off a historic upset by beating No.6 seed Zhu Yuling if she hopes to move one step closer to the title.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The last time Han met Yuling was also here in Doha back in 2016. Sunday\u2019s match will be the first WTT clash between the pair.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n