On January 11th, Beijing time, the 2025 WTT Doha Star Challenge continued, and the semi-final spots for both the women's singles and men's singles have been determined. In the women's singles semi-finals, China and Japan each occupy two spots. Among the top eight, the Chinese team secured five spots, but unfortunately, two players were eliminated due to two internal matches in the quarter-finals, along with He Zhuojia's loss to Nagasaki Miu. Despite the elimination of several main Japanese women's singles players, former doubles partners Miharu Kikuchi and Nagasaki Miu successfully advanced, both reaching the semi-finals. This time, the women's singles semi-finals were quite unexpected, as not only did the top four seeds fail to reach the semi-finals, but the top eight seeds were also completely eliminated. Only Nagasaki Miu, seeded among the top 16, advanced, creating a dark horse. The next two women's singles semi-finals will be between China and Japan, with Chen Yi facing Miharu Kikuchi and Kuai Man facing Nagasaki Miu. In the men's singles quarter-finals: Aruna defeated Park Kang-hyun 3-1 (11-9, 11-8, 4-11, 11-9). Park Kang-hyun was the last remaining South Korean male player, but he ultimately lost. Aruna's performance this time was very stable, playing steadily and fully utilizing his advantage in forehand shots. He narrowly won three games, demonstrating good control over the match with fewer mistakes. Tomokazu Harimoto defeated Koki Niwa 3-0 (13-11, 11-3, 11-5). Prior to the match, Koki Niwa was in great form, having defeated Xiang Peng and displaying excellent skills. However, after a crucial first game where he narrowly lost to…

The grand finale of the WTT Doha Star Challenge in 2025 has concluded, with four champions already crowned. Team China emerged victorious in the women's singles and men's doubles, while Japan secured titles in the women's doubles and mixed doubles. In the women's doubles final, Daiki Oshima/Sakura Yokoi defeated Zhuo Jia He/Zong Ge Man 3-0 (11-2, 12-10, 11-9). The men's doubles final saw Xiang Peng/Xu Yingbin edge out Tomokazu Harimoto/Kakeru Matsumoto 3-2 (15-13, 4-11, 11-8, 11-13, 11-6). The mixed doubles final was a close match, with Kakeru Matsumoto/Miharu Tomokazu overcoming Huang Youzheng/Shi Xunyao 3-2 (6-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-7, 11-7). In the women's singles final, Kuai Man dominated Miu Kihara 4-0 (11-6, 11-3, 11-8, 11-3). The last event to be decided was the men's singles final, where Tomokazu Harimoto faced off against Danish star Groth. This time, Team China did not send their main players, with Xiang Peng and Huang Youzheng achieving the best result of reaching the round of 16. Groth played well, maintaining a good rhythm and balance on both sides. He reached his first-ever Star Challenge final after defeating Japanese rising star Daiki Oshima in the semifinals. Harimoto was in top form, advancing strongly throughout the tournament and sweeping Aruna in the semifinals. The match started with a tight 3-3 scoreline, with both players focusing on the first three shots and rarely going beyond that. Midway through the game, Groth led 6-4 but suffered from receiving errors and mistakes, allowing Harimoto to catch up at 6-6. The score remained close until the end, when Harimoto took control and…

The complete entry list for the Singapore Grand Slam is out! The national table tennis team has made significant adjustments, with Wang Chuqin and Wang Manyu leading young players. This move by the national table tennis team is truly dazzling to watch! The Singapore WTT Grand Slam is a "battle of the gods" in the world of table tennis, with a prize pool of $1.5 million and 2000 points up for grabs. Who wouldn't want to take a piece of that? The competition dates also coincide with our Spring Festival, from January 30th to February 9th. These table tennis athletes won't be able to go home for the holidays, which is quite tough! Now that the entry list is out, netizens have turned into "Sherlocks," starting to analyze it. On the men's singles side, we have familiar faces like Wang Chuqin, Lin Shidong, Liang Jingkun, Lin Gaoyuan, Xiang Peng, and Zhou Qihao, all with solid skills. For the women's singles, we have Sun Yingsha, Wang Manyu, Wang Yidi, Chen Xingtong, Qian Tianyi, and He Zhuojia, each a "heroine" in their own right. But the doubles lineup is really surprising! Wang Chuqin/Lin Shidong and Wang Manyu/Kuai Man are two new pairs, fresh as newly wrapped dumplings! The fans of "Big Head" (Wang Chuqin) can't sit still: "Didn't Big Head say he wanted to focus on singles? Why is he playing doubles again?" Indeed, Big Head is now juggling three events, busier than visiting relatives during the New Year! It's like an experienced driver taking a novice along. Although Lin Shidong has…

The WTT Doha Star Challenge is in full swing! In a key match-up, the second seed of this competition, Japanese youngster Zhang Benmeihe, faced off against Thai player Orawan Palanang. After five rounds of fierce competition, Zhang Benmeihe was surprisingly defeated by her opponent with a score of 2-3, ending her run in the second round of the tournament. Zhang Benmeihe is only 17 years old. Despite her young age, she possesses remarkable skills. According to the latest world rankings, Zhang Benmeihe has reached sixth place. Orawan Palanang, now 25 years old, currently ranks 47th in the world. Her achievements are not particularly outstanding. Prior to the match, the media generally favored Zhang Benmeihe to win the game. However, the outcome was unexpected. In the first game, both players quickly entered the state. They engaged in intense exchanges. However, Zhang Benmeihe seized the opportunity and took control in the latter half of the match. With a score of 11-7, Zhang Benmeihe took the lead. In the second game, the match became even more closely contested. Both sides engaged in a tug-of-war from the start. The battle continued until a score of 9-9. Orawan Palanang made a decisive move and won with a score of 11-9. The overall score tied at 1-1. In the third game, after making adjustments, Zhang Benmeihe took the upper hand from the beginning. The score was quickly widened. With a score of 10-7, Zhang Benmeihe once again took the lead with a big score of 2-1 and obtained the match point. In the fourth game, Orawan…

On January 11th, Beijing time, the 2025 Doha Star Challenge Table Tennis Tournament entered its final day. Prior to this, three doubles titles had been decided, all featuring matches between China and Japan. The Chinese team lost to Japan in both women's doubles and mixed doubles but managed to defeat Japan in men's doubles. The women's singles final was another battle between China and Japan, with Kuai Man facing off against Miu Kihara. It was quite unexpected that both players made it to the final, as neither of them were among the top 16 seeds, and their world rankings were not particularly advantageous. Their strength and past achievements were also not highly regarded. In the semifinals, Kuai Man swept Nagasaki Meiyo in three straight sets, decisively defeating her opponent. On the other hand, Miu Kihara staged a comeback to defeat Chen Yi. This time, Miu Kihara became the best-performing Japanese women's singles player. Currently, the competition for Japanese women's singles is very fierce, with many young players emerging to compete for the main lineup spots. Achievements are crucial, especially since she won the silver medal in the women's team event at the World Table Tennis Championships, but her individual results have not been very impressive. Kuai Man quickly entered the game state, with fast connections and a proactive playing style. She led 6-1 and controlled the rhythm of the match with stable performance. Her service rounds were particularly successful, only losing one point. Her rhythm changes during rallies were also good, and she took the first set 11-6. In the…

On January 11th, Beijing time, the singles semi-finals of the 2025 WTT Star Challenge Doha Station began. On the national table tennis team's side, after the men's singles had already been completely eliminated, Chen Yi and Kuai Man, who advanced to the women's singles top four, took on the responsibility of fighting for the singles championship, with both women's singles semi-finals being China-Japan matchups. In the first match that ended earlier, Chen Yi lost a reversal after winning the first set 11-8, with Miharu Muozaki making a comeback with three consecutive sets 11-6, 11-8, 11-7 to advance. In the second women's singles semi-final, new world champion Kuai Man withstood the pressure, winning three sets in a row with a total score of 3-0 to sweep Japanese star Miyu Nagasaki, keeping the hope of the national table tennis team's singles championship alive! Chen Yi's elimination left Kuai Man as the only remaining player in the national table tennis team's singles lineup. On her way to advancing, Kuai Man successively eliminated Huang Yihua, Saki Shibata, Yi-Tian Ye, and Shi Xunyao, especially being able to eliminate the strong Japanese player Saki Shibata, indicating that Kuai Man is currently in good form. At last year's end-of-year Chengdu ITTF Mixed Team World Cup, Kuai Man helped the national table tennis team win the championship and also became the new world champion of the national table tennis team. In this women's singles semi-final, Kuai Man's opponent was Miyu Nagasaki. In the previous round, Miyu Nagasaki lost the first two sets before winning three consecutive sets, staging…

Under the warm sunshine of Hainan, the winter training of the national table tennis team in 2025 is in full swing. On January 10th, frontline journalists brought exclusive reports, unveiling the mysterious veil of the national table tennis team's preparations. This is not only the first training session of the new year, but also an important step towards the Los Angeles Olympics, with a tense yet hopeful atmosphere on site. The national table tennis team has adopted a "two-front battle" strategy, which makes people marvel at the painstaking efforts of the coaching staff. Some young players represented by Qian Tianyi are participating in the World Table Tennis Association's Star Challenge in Doha, and will then move on to the regular challenge in Oman. Meanwhile, the main force corps represented by Sun Yingsha, Wang Chuqin, and Wang Manyu are stationed in Hainan, accumulating strength for the upcoming Singapore Grand Slam event. On the training ground, sweat shines under the sun. After a week of intensive training, the three main players have spoken up, revealing their confidence and expectations for the future in their words. Wang Chuqin, affectionately known as "Big Head" by fans, appears particularly calm. Under the careful guidance of two famous coaches, Wang Hao and Xiao Zhan, he is moving towards higher goals. In training, his eyes are firm, and every action exudes focus and strength. This reminds people of his impressive performance last year, and now he seems ready to go further, ready for more. And "Great Demon King" Sun Yingsha shows her usual calmness. She hopes to…

Translation of the article content into English: On January 11, Beijing time, the last day of the Doha Challenge, there are a total of three matches today: the men's and women's singles semi-finals at 4 pm; the mixed doubles final at 6:30 pm; and the men's and women's singles finals at 9 pm. After yesterday's matches, the top four in both men's and women's singles have been determined. The top four in women's singles are China's Kuai Man, Chen Yu, Japan's Nagasaki Meiyo, and Miharu Kihara. Unfortunately, the two most anticipated veterans, He Zhuojia and Qian Tianyi, were eliminated in the quarterfinals, which is quite regrettable. Especially Chen Yu's 3-0 victory over Qian Tianyi, this match can be said to have both joys and concerns. Joy that Chen Yu has really made a lot of progress, concern that Qian Tianyi failed to advance to the finals. The top four in men's singles are Tomokazu Harimoto, Aruna, Groth, and Japan's. Regrettably, all the Chinese men's singles players were eliminated in the round of 16, especially Huang Youzheng, who everyone loves to watch, lost 1-3 to Qiu Dang in the round of 16. Everyone knows that although Qiu Dang is a German player, he learned the Chinese straight bat style, so he should be very familiar with Huang Youzheng's playing style. Therefore, throughout the match, Qiu Dang focused on attacking Huang Youzheng's weaknesses. At the same time, we also hope that Huang Youzheng will continue to work hard in the future and cheer him on. So we hope that in tonight's women's…

Star Match: Japanese Men's Singles Suffer a Crushing 0-3 Defeat, European Veteran Advances to the Finals, Tomokazu Harimoto in Explosive Form On January 11th, Beijing time, the 2025 WTT Doha Star Match continues. Today marks the final day of the event, with three champions being crowned. Prior to this, the women's doubles and men's doubles champions have already been determined, with China and Japan each securing one title. In the semi-finals, two women's singles matches were contested between China and Japan. Chen Yi won the first set but was subsequently reversed by Miu Kihara, who won three consecutive sets. During the rallies, Chen Yi did not perform as well as the previous day. On the other hand, Kuai Man dominated with a 3-0 sweep over Miyuu Nagasaki, improving her performance with each set, culminating in an explosive third set where her advantage was evident. After the match, Kuai Man stated that she quickly mobilized herself and had made extensive preparations before the game. Her mentality during the match was good, and her overall performance was satisfactory. She remained focused throughout the match, and as her momentum increased, her opponent's decreased. She aims to display the spirit of young athletes in the finals. In the concluded men's singles semi-final, Tomokazu Harimoto easily defeated Aruna in three sets, achieving a crushing victory. Today, Aruna was largely restricted, performing well in the latter half of the first set but becoming increasingly passive in the following two sets. As he fell behind in points, his mentality became anxious, leading to more errors. The last…

At 1:11 AM on January 11th, the WTT Doha Star Challenge continued to progress vigorously. In the day's competition, Xiang Peng and Xu Yingbin teamed up to defeat Tomokazu Harimoto and Koki Niwa with a score of 3-2, successfully winning the men's doubles championship title, and all events on the penultimate day of the competition came to an end. After this battle, the national table tennis team's record was mixed with joy and worry. In the women's doubles arena, the national table tennis team combination of Zhuo Jia He and Zong Ge Man performed unsatisfactorily, and they were swept by the Japanese combination of Shizuka Toda and Sakiyo Yokoi with a score of 0-3, unfortunately missing the women's doubles championship trophy. So far, two crowns have been born in the Doha Challenge, with the national table tennis team and the Japanese table tennis team each winning one championship and one runner-up, both sides are evenly matched in the honor competition. In addition, the top four women's singles have also been decided, with Chinese and Japanese players occupying two seats each. However, the situation in the women's singles arena is really surprising. In the singles matches, there were frequent upsets, and except for Miharu Kuwahara, all the seeded female singles players who skipped the first round returned empty-handed. On the men's singles side, Qiu Dang, the No. 2 seed player, was also unable to escape elimination, having already been knocked out. The following is a more detailed account of the competition and the subsequent match schedule arrangements:‌ ‌[Women's Doubles Final]‌ It…