Site Products

WTT Finals: A Pair of Final Day Surprises

(by Steve Hopkins)

The Men’s Finals featured World No. 1 and World No. 2, a fitting climax to a year of WTT tour events at the WTT Finals Men Doha.  Fan Zhendong had dominated Lin Gaoyuan 4-0 in the Semifinals just two hours earlier, and Wang Chuqin had equaled that feat with a 4-0 win over Dang Qiu.  These have clearly been the best to players of 2023, with Chuqin twice taking over World No. 1 – just to lose the title a week later as Fan rose again.  Most fans who follow both players, would have expected a tight Final decided by one or two close points.

What no one would have expected was the absolute drubbing that Chuqin issued as he won all four games, never facing a single game point.  Chuqin’s win draws him very close to No. 1 again – but because Fan also accumulated points by reaching the Final, Fan will remain in first.  But the first rankings of this 2024 Olympic year will have Fan Zhendong and Wang Chuqin separated by the narrowest of margins.

The top two ranked Chinese teams faced each other in the Semifinals with the World’s Top 2 players (Fan/Chuqin) losing 0-3 to Lin Gaoyuan and Lin Shidong.  In the other Semifinal matchup, France’s Alexis and Felix Lebrun fell to the lesser known Chinese squad of Xiang Peng and Yuan Licen.  Peng and Licen faced off against the higher seeded Lin Gaoyuan and Lin Shidong (that were humorously referred to as “the Lins” in several interviews with teammates).  The result was another surprise as the two lower tier players, Xiang and Yuan dominated in a 3-0 win.  Xiang and Yuan actually pulled off upsets in all three of their matches, toppling not just China’s second seeded team and France’s top pair, but also the Japanese team of Togami and Uda.

The last tournament of the 2023 season was a great start to 2024.

Visit ButterflyOnline.com for the latest table tennis news and results.

Latest News

MLTT Featured Team: Chicago Wind

July 14, 2025
(by Steve Hopkins, photo MLTT) The Chicago Wind plan to blow over competition in the upcoming Major League… Read More

Wang Chuqin and Zhu Yuling

July 13, 2025
(by Steve Hopkins) Wang Chuqin made quick work of Tomokazu Harimoto in the Men’s Singles Final of the… Read More

WAB CLUB FEATURE: California Table Tennis

July 13, 2025
(by Steve Hopkins) Nestled in Rosemead, California, at the heart of the San Gabriel Valley near Los Angeles,… Read More

United States Smash: Harimoto and Chuqin to Clash in Finals

July 13, 2025
(by Steve Hopkins) Fans in Las Vegas were treated to two epic Semifinal matches on Saturday at the… Read More

United States Smash: Semifinals

July 13, 2025
(by Steve Hopkins) When all was said and done, it was the top three seeds (and the sixth… Read More

Nishant Lebaka – Forehand Smash with Short Pips

July 13, 2025
(by: Bowmar Sports) In this Butterfly Training Tips, Nishant Lebaka is executing the Forehand Smash with short pips… Read More

Serve Into the Body

July 11, 2025
WAIT FUNCTION: Serve long serve to elbow, Robot plays topspin to Backhand, Backhand spin block down the line.… Read More

Playing Kids

July 8, 2025
(By Larry Hodges) Let’s face it; they’re probably faster than you. They might have a coach working with… Read More
View All News

Get the latest from Butterfly

Stay “In The Loop” with Butterfly professional table tennis equipment, table tennis news, table tennis technology, tournament results, and We Are Butterfly players, coaches, clubs and more.