Busy Busy 2026

[Tony's Table Tennis]

Jan 7-11 Champion Doha
Jan 7-11 Feeder India
Jan 13~18 Star Contender Doha
Jan 19~24 Contender Muscat
Jan 27-31 Feeder Doha
Jan 27-31Feeder Lillle (France)

Feb 2-6 Feeder Turkey
Feb 10-15 Star Contender Chennai
Feb 19-1 Singapore Smash

Mar 2-6 Feeder Dusseldorf
Mar 7-11 Feeder Otocec
Mar 10-15 Champion Chongqing
Mar 12-16 Feeder Varazdin
Mar 23-28 Contender Tunisia
Mar 30-Apr 5 World Cup Macao

Apr 7-12 Contender Taiyuan
Apr 7-11 Feeder Turkey
Apr 13-17 Feeder Havirov
Apr 18-22 Feeder Slovakia
Apr 28-May 10 WTTC London

May 10-14 Feeder Istanbul
May 15-19 Feeder Portugal
May 18-21 Feeder Lagos
May 20-24 Feeder France
May 27-31 Feeder Kosovo

Jun 1-7 Contender Skopjie
Jun 9-14 Contender Zagreb
Jun 16-21 Star Contender Ljubljana
Jun 25-Jul 5 USA Smash

Jul 1-5 Feeder Istanbul
Jul 8-12 Feeder Paraguay
Jul 14-19 Contender Buenos Aires
Jul 19-23 Feeder Mongolia
Jul 21-26 Star Contender Brazil
Jul 24-28 Feeder Uzbekistan
Jul 28-Aug 2 Feeder Tunis

Aug 4-8 Feeder Laos
Aug 5-9 Champions Yokohama
Aug 13-23 Europe Smash Sweden
Aug 19-23 Feeder Berlin
Aug 24-28 Feeder Czechia

Sep 1-6 Contender Almaty
Sep 8-13 Champions Macao
Sep 8-13 Contender Bulgaria
Sep 14-18 Feeder Bangkok
Sep 15-20 Star Contender London
Sep 23-27 Feeder Linz

Oct 1-11 China Smash
Oct 7-11 Feeder Doha
Oct 27-1 Champion Montpelier
Oct 28-Nov 1 Feeder Chennai

Nov 3-8 Champions Germany
Nov 4-8 Feeder Portugal
Nov 10-15 Contender Istanbul
Nov 16-21 Star Contender Muscat
Nov 23-27 Feeder Dusseldorf
Nov 28-Dec 2 Feeder Poland
Nov 29-Dec 6 Mixed Team World Cup

Dec 8-13 WTT Finals Hong Kong

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

To those that think pros don't get tired (playing table tennis).... even the best of the best have had enough from the repercussion of the scheduling and tired is now an understatement, they are now fatigue.

WCQ told a reporter after winning 3 events at Bejing Smash: compared to the past, playing 3 events was fine - but now I am fatigue when playing 3 events.

With 2026 schedule out, it will just get worse.
Fatigue vs Injury, or both, is what we will see more and more of.

 

[IB66]

To those that think pros don't get tired (playing table tennis).... even the best of the best have had enough from the repercussion of the scheduling and tired is now an understatement, they are now fatigue.

WCQ told a reporter after winning 3 events at Bejing Smash: compared to the past, playing 3 events was fine - but now I am fatigue when playing 3 events.

With 2026 schedule out, it will just get worse.
Fatigue vs Injury, or both, is what we will see more and more of.

How many events are ‘compulsory’ these days?

 

[zeio]

Another "daily period" thread.

How many events are ‘compulsory’ these days?

4 CS at a minimum, and if you qualify for CF then 5, tops.

https://www.tabletennisdaily.com/fo...ns-japan-2025-7-11-aug-2025.35819/post-534074

Isn't it so that the smash and champions are obligatory for the top ranked but not the contender?

Since 2025/4/1, Grand Smash is now by invitation (2 days to make free cancellation) and no longer mandatory, and players get 2 annual exemptions for Champions which is still mandatory.

https://www.tabletennisdaily.com/fo...ns-macao-2025-9-14-sep-2025.35827/post-541286

食得鹹魚抵得渴/If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.

As of now, other than 1 WTT Finals and 4 WTT Champions, the other events are not mandatory.

Your constant nagging makes you sound like those fanboys/fangirls.

https://www.tabletennisdaily.com/forum/topics/china-smash-2025.37870/post-544149

WCQ was asked about the poor singles results in the past year after Paris 2024 and the high-intensity output throughout the year, saying how he chose to skip WTT CS Incheon and Europe Smash of his own volition after consultation with the coaching staff, which was very supportive of his decision and the current means of communication makes him very comfortable and satisfactory and the leaders and coaches respect his choices and suggestions and his overall condition is excellent currently, and for those mandatory competitions, you should try your best to remain positive and focused.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

How many events are ‘compulsory’ these days?

We going into 2026, compulsory issue is of 2024.

WTT has been lenient with sick leave/compassionate leave from compulsory event, the problem is not just what is compulsory and what is not, any more, but rather:

If you want to be part of the world ranking or not, and what points you need to aim at to remain/maintain or better the world ranking.
With world ranking points expiring in 12 months, your "points statement" is clear and if you do not make more or achieve the same by x date, you will drop.
and with so many more events today, to keep the similar world ranking level, you need to have more points.

I know few players already told me they will rest during this period and just maintain enough to play Smash, and for next Olympic build up, to go back to silly mode.

Some are forced to maintain world ranking to keep funding/sponsors, and for them, they play on even when fatigue or injured.

pro wtt people like zeio and his gang, always want to point it that things are easy and simple, or these rules are acceptable and always remind us that "only so many is compulsory today and what is the fuss".

If you or any other do have friends that are in the world rankings and you are able to have a heartfelt conversation, I am still waiting for one to tell me that they are enjoying such workloads.

If I can summarize, the pros are forced to take part, or they will face repercussions by falling in the world ranking.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

I wonder why my blocked list is so happy commenting on my thread. lol

 

[IB66]

We going into 2026, compulsory issue is of 2024.

WTT has been lenient with sick leave/compassionate leave from compulsory event, the problem is not just what is compulsory and what is not, any more, but rather:

If you want to be part of the world ranking or not, and what points you need to aim at to remain/maintain or better the world ranking.
With world ranking points expiring in 12 months, your "points statement" is clear and if you do not make more or achieve the same by x date, you will drop.
and with so many more events today, to keep the similar world ranking level, you need to have more points.

I know few players already told me they will rest during this period and just maintain enough to play Smash, and for next Olympic build up, to go back to silly mode.

Some are forced to maintain world ranking to keep funding/sponsors, and for them, they play on even when fatigue or injured.

pro wtt people like zeio and his gang, always want to point it that things are easy and simple, or these rules are acceptable and always remind us that "only so many is compulsory today and what is the fuss".

If you or any other do have friends that are in the world rankings and you are able to have a heartfelt conversation, I am still waiting for one to tell me that they are enjoying such workloads.

If I can summarize, the pros are forced to take part, or they will face repercussions by falling in the world ranking.

Tough schedule. What with the training required, travel and competition, you can see why players are tired and the likelihood of injury is higher. These days, that’s pretty normal for the majority of many different sports.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

Tough schedule. What with the training required, travel and competition, you can see why players are tired and the likelihood of injury is higher. These days, that’s pretty normal for the majority of many different sports.

i think what is different is table tennis has too many tiers to look out for

1) club career in the form of leagues
2) domestic tournaments (which to me this should be canned), like national championship, national tournaments, which can be between 2 to 5 events (or more a year)
3) national team, this is more continental or world events, namely ITTF events (this can be 3 to 6 events a year, or maybe more)
4) then we have the WTT (this can easily be 15~20 events a year or more).

on top of this and the "training" you mentioned, players (the more higher ranked ones), need to take part in commercial obligations, like advertising shoots and what not. Even the bare minimal of brands sponsorship shoots like Stiga or Butterfly, does take a good 1 to 3 days, or + 2 more for traveling in a year.
For anyone that has been on a shoots before, it is also extremely tiring.

And when we talk competition days, it is common to be at the hall for 10 hours or more in a day. In fact, some crazy hours include the likes of arriving at around 8am and then leaving at 9pm for few days straight.

We only have 356 days in a year to use, traveling for 200 or 250+ of them and then we wondering why the players are performing inconsistently, or getting injured.

Numbers 1~3 has been like that for decade, the only difference is the inclusion of WTT and as my point earlier, the secret to WTT importance is the way world ranking points works.
If the world ranking remain as before, WTT will certainly fail.

CTTA is now looking out for CNT players health. I hope with that and other entities push, we can have a healthy life for the pros.

 

[zeio]

15 mandatory tournaments for top 30 "commitment" players in ATP. 9 ATP Tour Masters 1000 + 1 Nitto ATP Finals + 5 ATP Tour 500. WTA is a total pain to work out, so feel free to help yourself - https://photoresources.wtatennis.co...-5576f670f801/2025-WTA-Rulebook-1-5-2025-.pdf

12 mandatory tournaments for top 15 players in BWF. See link below for more.

4+1 mandatory tournaments in WTT and you still have a problem? Just retire!

Too many tournaments for top players? Nonsense.
https://stevesbadminton.com/2025/06/23/too-many-tournaments-for-top-players-nonsense/

I read an interesting article from the New Strait Times on BWF being greedy in terms of pushing the players into too many competitions. Here is the link to that article: https://www.nst.com.my/sports/badminton/2025/06/1233542/greedy-bwf-pushing-its-shuttlers. I tend to disagree with that statement. Let’s discuss.

WTA vs ATP approaches to player wellbeing - they should probably emulate each other more
https://www.reddit.com/r/tennis/comments/1nzezwl/wta_vs_atp_approaches_to_player_wellbeing_they/

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

15 mandatory tournaments for top 30 "commitment" players in ATP. 9 ATP Tour Masters 1000 + 1 Nitto ATP Finals + 5 ATP Tour 500. WTA is a total pain to work out, so feel free to help yourself - https://photoresources.wtatennis.co...-5576f670f801/2025-WTA-Rulebook-1-5-2025-.pdf

12 mandatory tournaments for top 15 players in BWF. See link below for more.

4+1 mandatory tournaments in WTT and you still have a problem? Just retire!

Too many tournaments for top players? Nonsense.
https://stevesbadminton.com/2025/06/23/too-many-tournaments-for-top-players-nonsense/


WTA vs ATP approaches to player wellbeing - they should probably emulate each other more

https://www.reddit.com/r/tennis/comments/1nzezwl

i'm seeing all these addition posters that are from an ignored user.
and not surprised you love replying to me and again full of nonsense.

how ever your view is, is of no interest to me.

i understand being a full time couch potato like you, are quite distance from real table tennis, so I won't be surprised you are far from actual human contact. End of the day, these pros table tennis players are also human beings and you are welcome to answer them nonsense or just tell them to retire, if you come face to face with them. Of course we know your tail will be between your legs when you meet them face to face.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

I wonder how many league matches tennis and badminton players have? I'm not familiar in these sports, but here goes table tennis.

Japanese T-League, 25 matches in a season
TTBL 22 matches in a season
Pro A 18 matches in a season
post season is not factored in yet.

PS. table tennis income is from leagues, I wonder how it is in tennis and badminton?

 

[Metaxa]

Jan 7-11 Champion Doha
Jan 7-11 Feeder India
Jan 13~18 Star Contender Doha
Jan 19~24 Contender Muscat
Jan 27-31 Feeder Doha
Jan 27-31Feeder Lillle (France)

Feb 2-6 Feeder Turkey
Feb 10-15 Star Contender Chennai
Feb 19-1 Singapore Smash

Mar 2-6 Feeder Dusseldorf
Mar 7-11 Feeder Otocec
Mar 10-15 Champion Chongqing
Mar 12-16 Feeder Varazdin
Mar 23-28 Contender Tunisia
Mar 30-Apr 5 World Cup Macao

Apr 7-12 Contender Taiyuan
Apr 7-11 Feeder Turkey
Apr 13-17 Feeder Havirov
Apr 18-22 Feeder Slovakia
Apr 28-May 10 WTTC London

May 10-14 Feeder Istanbul
May 15-19 Feeder Portugal
May 18-21 Feeder Lagos
May 20-24 Feeder France
May 27-31 Feeder Kosovo

Jun 1-7 Contender Skopjie
Jun 9-14 Contender Zagreb
Jun 16-21 Star Contender Ljubljana
Jun 25-Jul 5 USA Smash

Jul 1-5 Feeder Istanbul
Jul 8-12 Feeder Paraguay
Jul 14-19 Contender Buenos Aires
Jul 19-23 Feeder Mongolia
Jul 21-26 Star Contender Brazil
Jul 24-28 Feeder Uzbekistan
Jul 28-Aug 2 Feeder Tunis

Aug 4-8 Feeder Laos
Aug 5-9 Champions Yokohama
Aug 13-23 Europe Smash Sweden
Aug 19-23 Feeder Berlin
Aug 24-28 Feeder Czechia

Sep 1-6 Contender Almaty
Sep 8-13 Champions Macao
Sep 8-13 Contender Bulgaria
Sep 14-18 Feeder Bangkok
Sep 15-20 Star Contender London
Sep 23-27 Feeder Linz

Oct 1-11 China Smash
Oct 7-11 Feeder Doha
Oct 27-1 Champion Montpelier
Oct 28-Nov 1 Feeder Chennai

Nov 3-8 Champions Germany
Nov 4-8 Feeder Portugal
Nov 10-15 Contender Istanbul
Nov 16-21 Star Contender Muscat
Nov 23-27 Feeder Dusseldorf
Nov 28-Dec 2 Feeder Poland
Nov 29-Dec 6 Mixed Team World Cup

Dec 8-13 WTT Finals Hong Kong

They're not learning it!!!

 

[IB66]

I wonder how many league matches tennis and badminton players have? I'm not familiar in these sports, but here goes table tennis.

Japanese T-League, 25 matches in a season
TTBL 22 matches in a season
Pro A 18 matches in a season
post season is not factored in yet.

PS. table tennis income is from leagues, I wonder how it is in tennis and badminton?

Tennis, ITF tour 600 tournaments across 70 nations ( lower ranking tour to progress to ATP Challenger Tour )
ATP challenger tour over 200 events available!!
ATP tour 59 tournaments across 29 countries

Badminton - WBF - national ‘open’ events - 27, these are the ones the top pros will look to play in, one every other week ish. Plus they will have club matches, some English players play for clubs in Denmark ( where the sport is very strong )
This isn’t including junior events etc where the overall total is around 74 events.

So there are loads available!! I don’t know how many a player must play in etc just a quick search on Google to get an idea what’s out there.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

Tennis, ITF tour 600 tournaments across 70 nations ( lower ranking tour to progress to ATP Challenger Tour )
ATP challenger tour over 200 events available!!
ATP tour 59 tournaments across 29 countries

Badminton - WBF - national ‘open’ events - 27, these are the ones the top pros will look to play in, one every other week ish. Plus they will have club matches, some English players play for clubs in Denmark ( where the sport is very strong )
This isn’t including junior events etc where the overall total is around 74 events.

So there are loads available!! I don’t know how many a player must play in etc just a quick search on Google to get an idea what’s out there.

it sounds like Tennis and Badminton, they only have "internationals" to worry about.
how many domestic tournaments, or leagues do they need to take part in? Can't seem to find any significant numbers.

for table tennis players, most of your elites, have more league matches than WTT events for example.
In soccer or basketball, league is also way more than internationals.

out of all the sports mentioned in this thread, table tennis is earning peanuts

 

[IB66]

it sounds like Tennis and Badminton, they only have "internationals" to worry about.
how many domestic tournaments, or leagues do they need to take part in? Can't seem to find any significant numbers.

for table tennis players, most of your elites, have more league matches than WTT events for example.
In soccer or basketball, league is also way more than internationals.

out of all the sports mentioned in this thread, table tennis is earning peanuts

Tennis is tour based basically, like golf.
Badminton, at least in the uk is club orientated firstly, with progression to County level (district) and then the national squad. Players that turn Pro usually play for an overseas club and they can play the tour events as well. Not sure how the ranking system works or kicks in to allow access to the tour events, which seem to be a countries national Open event.

 

[NextLevel]

To those that think pros don't get tired (playing table tennis).... even the best of the best have had enough from the repercussion of the scheduling and tired is now an understatement, they are now fatigue.

WCQ told a reporter after winning 3 events at Bejing Smash: compared to the past, playing 3 events was fine - but now I am fatigue when playing 3 events.

With 2026 schedule out, it will just get worse.
Fatigue vs Injury, or both, is what we will see more and more of.

To those who like to take people's words and twist them: the context of the original quote/question about tiredness was whether Hugo would play worse with a quarterfinal one morning, the semifinal the next morning and the final the next afternoon (same day as the semifinal) and was whether playing multiple matches in a shorter period of time was impacted a pro's performance in a single match at that event in a way where the pro would say "Hey, if I had only played one match today and not two, I would have played much better." This is very different from arguing that one should play everyday and all the time because accumulated stress on the body doesn't cause injuries or that 9 matches in 3 days isn't worse that 6 matches in 3 days. IT is more that if a pro plays 2 matches in two days vs 3 matches in two days, usually, the pro does the extra matches without thinking. It is more about how much volume does it take for pros to struggle with single match performance? Not whether overtraining or overplaying can cause injuries.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

To those who like to take people's words and twist them: ........................ usually, the pro does the extra matches without thinking. It is more about how much volume does it take for pros to struggle with single match performance? Not whether overtraining or overplaying can cause injuries.

opps, i'm so sorry.
I guess the information I got from CNT players was wrong them.
your sources in the CNT must be more accurate, you win!

edit, even if it is not CNT, i'm sure you have access to many Pros.

edit 2. I see where you are coming from - you are assuming i'm quoting you? haha, you wish.
I guess you forgot to factor in if a player is going in fatigue and need more recovery time, compared to a non fatigue player that doesn't need much recovery time.
If you haven't been following this thread and the WTT 2024-2025 thread and the past 2 years of WTT, then i'm not sure why you would only think Hugo or which other Pro's performance is based on those few hours difference...
You sure won't know what niggle any of them would have during the match up too, but its okay, I know you like to debate a lot of theory or possibilities. that is not the purpose of this thread, you can continue that in the smash thread.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

Tennis is tour based basically, like golf.
Badminton, at least in the uk is club orientated firstly, with progression to County level (district) and then the national squad. Players that turn Pro usually play for an overseas club and they can play the tour events as well. Not sure how the ranking system works or kicks in to allow access to the tour events, which seem to be a countries national Open event.

Yep, I gathered Tennis is like golf.

badminton, I just did a Gozo and used chatgpt, lol:

asked: badminton, how much time does a player play in the pro domestic/franchise league vs international world tours.

answer:

Not sure how accurate is this

 

[NextLevel]

opps, i'm so sorry.
I guess the information I got from CNT players was wrong them.
your sources in the CNT must be more accurate, you win!

edit, even if it is not CNT, i'm sure you have access to many Pros.

edit 2. I see where you are coming from. I guess you forgot to factor in if a player is going in fatigue and need more recovery time, compared to a non fatigue player that doesn't need much recovery time.
If you haven't been following this thread and the past 2 years of WTT, then i'm not sure.....

Thanks for finally seeing what I am saying.

I didn't forget to factor it in the specific example I was responding to at the time when I made the original statement, the argument that I was responding to was that Hugo's style made it more likely he would get tired playing 3 matches in 2 days. I don't even doubt that a pro can play worse because of fatigue. But tiredness from immediate increase in volume is part of what they manage at these events, they play and train so much that no one will say "I lost this particular match because I played more matches in this event." Which is very different from saying "I have been playing too much, I need a break." Even Wang that doesn't want to play 3 events anymore, he isn't saying it is because he played worse or was tired, he just doesn't like stress he is accumulating given the results he has to produce.

I agree 100% that too much volume can cause fatigue and injuries. But that is part of what players manage and usually can accommodate in the short term - they just can't do it all the time.

 

[zeio]

A few days ago, ZJK said in an interview that top players do not enjoy competitions, but they do love competitions.

Therefore, to hell with the leagues (HKG players are well-paid by the government, so those are your problems), retire from international competitions if you can't make do with both as I've said before regarding Aruna.

张继科说顶级运动员不会享受比赛
https://weibo.com/1744332207/Q7LTE9pvR

第47集 | 马龙享受乒乓？张继科：不可能 #张继科 #张指导乒乓 #马龙
https://www.douyin.com/video/7557796538248891689