(by Steve Hopkins)
The WTT Champions Chongqing is set to begin in one week. Every one of the Men’s Top 20 will attend in what is sure to be one of the most competitive tournaments of 2025. For American fans, great news today as Kanak Jha was named along with the wildcard entries today. In Men’s Singles, Chen Yuanyu was the Host Wildcard, and Kanak Jha was the WTT Nomination. Both players have had exciting results, with Jha reaching the Final 16 at the Singapore Smash, and the 19-year-old Yuanyu has won two WTT events in the last year (WTT Feeder Dusseldorf II and WTT Contender Muscat).
When action begins on the 11th, Shidong, Chuqin, Jingkun, Harimoto, Calderano, both Lebrun brothers, Moregard, Franziska, and Qiu will all be in action. This amazing roster of elite players may not be seen again until the ITTF World Championship Finals in Doha in May. For Kanak and Yuanyu (the wildcards for this event), and many others in the second tier of the World Rankings, performing well in these events will matter just to get in the door for the end-of-year season ending events. Many of those premiere events, like the WTT Finals, will only invite 16 players – and right now, Kanak Jha is No. 26 in the World, so he would be outside looking in. That said, every major event is an opportunity to shine, and every ranking point brings these players closer to their goals.
WTT Champions Chongqing is the first WTT Champions event of the season. It promises to provide incredible action. Buckle your seatbelt, the WTT tour calendar is about to take off.
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