WTT Star Contender Foz do Iguaçu 2025 7/30-8/3

[pongfugrasshopper]

World Table Tennis

www.worldtabletennis.com

We head over to Brazil for Star Contender Foz do Iguaçu. Top seeds are Buenos Aires champions Hugo Calderano in MS and Miwa Harimoto in WS. Honoka Hashimoto, WS Champion of Contender Lagos, is the 4th highest ranked player in WS, but she could face strong competition in early rounds from both Miyu Nagasaki and Hitomi Sato.

 

[Vlad Celler]

Honoka Hashimoto

14-24 Aug: Europe Smash – Sweden 2025 | Malmo (SWE)
It's a pity that it's not announced in Japan...
7-11 Aug: WTT Champions Yokohama 2025 (JPN)

 

[NextLevel]

Honoka Hashimoto

14-24 Aug: Europe Smash – Sweden 2025 | Malmo (SWE)
It's a pity that it's not announced in Japan...
7-11 Aug: WTT Champions Yokohama 2025 (JPN)

There are already 4 Japanese - one may have to pull out for Honoka to get in though there are five Chinese so she should be there....

 

[pongfugrasshopper]

There are already 4 Japanese - one may have to pull out for Honoka to get in though there are five Chinese so she should be there....

I think this is because WTT added the Olympic Gold Card rule which allows past Olympic champions to get automatic entry to Smashes / Champions events without the need for a wildcard/nomination and not count towards the NER limit. I think that is how China gets to have 6 women (SYS,WMY,CXT,WYD,KM,SXY) at the WTT Champions events when the limit is 4.

 

[NextLevel]

I think this is because WTT added the Olympic Gold Card rule which allows past Olympic champions to get automatic entry to Smashes / Champions events without the need for a wildcard/nomination and not count towards the NER limit. I think that is how China gets to have 6 women (SYS,WMY,CXT,WYD,KM,SXY) at the WTT Champions events when the limit is 4.

Yeah but who are the Olympic champions? Or is that a Teams designation as well?

 

[pongfugrasshopper]

Yeah but who are the Olympic champions? Or is that a Teams designation as well?

Yes, it includes Teams as well. A very nice setup for team China.

Here's the section they added to the ITTF Handbook:

c. Olympic Champions (Gold medallists in all sub-Events) are entitled to an entry into the Grand Smash Main
Draw and Champions Events as Olympic Champions Gold Cards.
Olympic Champions Gold Cards:
• don’t count towards the NER.
• for purposes of benefits, obligations and sanctions (excluding ranking & seeding related matters),
for all clauses of this Handbook, will be considered as equivalent of Players Ranked 1-10.
• for purposes of seeding, if a player is no longer part of the ITTF TTWR, they will be seeded based on
a provisional ranking according to the last ranking list they were active, with expired Events
removed. (This provision applies only for their first Event and remains in effect until any changes
applicable to Olympic Champions Gold Cards are made to the ITTF TTWR Regulations)

 

[NextLevel]

Yes, it includes Teams as well. A very nice setup for team China.

Here's the section they added to the ITTF Handbook:

c. Olympic Champions (Gold medallists in all sub-Events) are entitled to an entry into the Grand Smash Main
Draw and Champions Events as Olympic Champions Gold Cards.
Olympic Champions Gold Cards:
• don’t count towards the NER.
• for purposes of benefits, obligations and sanctions (excluding ranking & seeding related matters),
for all clauses of this Handbook, will be considered as equivalent of Players Ranked 1-10.
• for purposes of seeding, if a player is no longer part of the ITTF TTWR, they will be seeded based on
a provisional ranking according to the last ranking list they were active, with expired Events
removed. (This provision applies only for their first Event and remains in effect until any changes
applicable to Olympic Champions Gold Cards are made to the ITTF TTWR Regulations)

I will enjoy that when Ma Long or FZD actually play again. Absent that, it is socialism for the wealthy again....

 

[joshmak10]

I will enjoy that when Ma Long or FZD actually play again. Absent that, it is socialism for the wealthy again....

I doubt Ma Long will play WTT again as he’s the VP of CTTA now. FZD however…I can only hope and pray WLQ understands how poor LSD has been to bring back Little Fatty

 

[piligrim]

I doubt Ma Long will play WTT again as he’s the VP of CTTA now. FZD however…I can only hope and pray WLQ understands how poor LSD has been to bring back Little Fatty

Why not bring back ZJK and Wang Hao ))

 

[NextLevel]

I doubt Ma Long will play WTT again as he’s the VP of CTTA now. FZD however…I can only hope and pray WLQ understands how poor LSD has been to bring back Little Fatty

I really can't believe Ma Long retired after China Smash. He probably was convinced by Dima getting close in their last match lol. But if he ever wants to pull a comeback from retirement like Jordan, he will get the world excited.

 

[pongfugrasshopper]

Honoka Hashimoto joins forces with Satoshi Aida in XD in qualifiers. Aida in has been much more offensive than defensive so it should be an interesting combination.

 

[GAOdp]

WTT Star Contender Foz do Iguaçu-2025 - is the eleventh table tennis tournament of the WTT Contender Series in 2025 (and the fourth event of the WTT Star Contenders tier in 2025), held in Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil. The WTT Star Contender Foz do Iguaçu 2025 is organized by the Confederação Brasileira de Tênis de Mesa (Brazilian Table Tennis Confederation) under the patronage of World Table Tennis (WTT) from 30 July to 3 August 2025.

The total prize money awarded to the medalists amounts to $300,000.

Qualification for the Tournament

Ranking Limitation (PDR – Participation of Top 20 Players)

Singles

• No more than eight (8) players will be allowed to participate if they are among the Top 20 ITTF TTWR players at the time of the entry deadline.

National Entry Restriction (NER) Singles
Each national association may enter:

• up to 4 players in the Main Draw,
• up to 6 players in the Qualifying Draw.

The following are not counted towards these limits:

• Host Wildcards,
• WTT Nominations,
• WTT Youth Nominations.

Mixed Doubles

Each national association may enter up to 4 players in any pair combination. The organizers may use their wildcards to include additional players — either complete or incomplete pairs, outside the NER limitation. If there are open spots in the Main or Qualifying Draw, these may be filled by additional players based on their ITTF TTWR rankings at the entry deadline.

Wildcards

Tournament organizers have the right to award the following wildcards: To the Main Draw:

• up to 4 players in singles,
• up to 2 pairs in doubles and mixed doubles.

To the Qualification Draw:

• up to 8 players in singles,
• 1 pair in doubles and mixed doubles each.

WTT also reserves the right to assign:

• up to 2 WTT Nominations,
• 1 WTT Youth Nomination — for participation in the Main Draw of the singles event.

All unused wildcards or nominations will automatically revert to the pool of direct entries.

Useful links

Link to the tournament on the WTT website: WTT Star Contender Foz do Iguaçu 2025
Tournament prospectus: WTT Star Contender Foz do Iguaçu 2025 - Prospectus
Tournament playlist on the World Table Tennis YouTube channel: WTT Star Contender Foz do Iguaçu 2025

 

[ThePongCommenter]

Luca Kumahara, formerly Caroline Kumahara, participating in Mens Singles

 

[NextLevel]

Luca Kumahara, formerly Caroline Kumahara, participating in Mens Singles

In table tennis, the table size is somewhat of an equalizer. But they were well past their primes already so it is less about competing and more about achieving personal goals I suspect.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

In table tennis, the table size is somewhat of an equalizer. But they were well past their primes already so it is less about competing and more about achieving personal goals I suspect.

imagine the opposite, Luca becomes Caroline and plays in the women's singles

 

[NextLevel]

imagine the opposite, Luca becomes Caroline and plays in the women's singles

You mean Hugo becomes Caroline and plays in women's singles. That would be more interesting.

 

[ThePongCommenter]

In table tennis, the table size is somewhat of an equalizer. But they were well past their primes already so it is less about competing and more about achieving personal goals I suspect.

Definitely, just thought it was cool to see. I've heard nothing but good things about Caroline/Luca as a person so glad to see them crossing a big item off the bucket list.

 

[Vlad Celler]

Sato-Nagasaki-C.I.C
Good luck Hashimoto Honoka!
Road to Top 10

 

[NextLevel]

Honoka has no major threats until Miwa. Good luck to her.

 

[pongfugrasshopper]

You mean Hugo becomes Caroline and plays in women's singles. That would be more interesting.

An army of vocal SYS fans would be protesting inside and outside the arena if the two were ever in the same tournament!