Ying Han (left) serves against Wang Manyu.
Doha, Qatar: World No.22 Ying Han stunned top seed Wang Manyu in a dramatic quarter-final clash to advance in the WTT Champions women’s draw at the Lusail Sports Hall, while top favourite Lin Shidong of China survived a scare to reach the men’s semis yesterday.
China’s Manyu, the current world no.2, fell to her German counterpart 3-4 in the marathon see-saw clash, which took a little over an hour to complete.
Han, ranked 22nd in the world, struck first with an 11-6 win, firing an early warning of a potential upset. Manyu responded strongly to take the second game 11-4, but Han regained the lead by winning the third 11-7, only for Manyu to level again with a tight 12-10 fourth game.
Han surged ahead in the fifth, winning 11-4, but Manyu forced a decider by taking the sixth 11-8. In the deciding game, Han held her nerve to win the game 11-6 to close out the gripping contest to secure a famous win.
“Of 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,” Han said after the win.
Han will now take on No.6 seed Zhu Yuling in today’s semi-final.
Macau’s Yuling prevailed in another thriller later at the Lusail Sports Hall, outplaying Chinese fourth seed Wang Yidi 4-2 (11-5, 11-9, 11-13, 11-8, 9-11, 11-8) in a 55-minute affair.
Japan's Miwa Harimoto bowed out of the women’s singles quarter-final after a tight 3-4 loss to China’s Chen Xingtong .
Chen will take on China’s Kuai Man, who defeated Japan’s Miyu Nagasaki 4-1 later. Meanwhile, on the men’s side, top seed Lin Shidong of China avoided an upset when he edged past compatriot and sixth seed Liang Jingkun 4-2 in a blockbuster quarter-final.
Following a high-intense clash, Shidong took control in the closing stages to seal the victory with a scoreline of 11-8, 6-11, 11-8, 4-11, 11-8, 11-9 to book a semi-final meeting with South Korea’s Jang Woojin, who shocked world No.5 Truls Moregard.
Woojin, the World No.18, surprised the Swede with his dominant play, taking the opening two games 11-5 and 11-7. Moregard responded by claiming the third 11-9, but Woojin closed out the contest with convincing wins of 11-3 and 12-10 to seal a memorable victory.
Japan’s Tomakazy Harimoto also reached the semis when he defeated Feliz Lebrun of France 4-2. Harimoto will meet compatriot Sora Matsushima or Lin Yun-Ju of Chinese Taipei next.
The finals of the WTT Champions, part of the 31st edition of the Qatar International Table Tennis Championship, will take place today.
As part of the combined Championships line-up, the WTT Champions event will be followed by the WTT Contender Junior event from January 19 to 22, and the WTT Star Contender Junior from January 23 to 25. The month-long series concludes with the WTT Feeder Doha 2026 Tournament from January 27 to 31.
