WTT Star Contender Doha 2026 Jan 13-18

[deepanmania]

LSD is the world number 2, coming from the finest training program on the planet, he shouldn't really break a sweat against a veteran like Dima. No disrespect to Dima whatsoever here, I'm thrilled with the way he started 2026. Was and is one of my favorites.

My EJ mind starts thinking now, "How much does a super zlc blade costs now?" 😂😂

 

[po-stit]

What happened to Lin Yun Ju? Why did he forfeit his game?

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[M51]

Whoever is setting the white balance in these streams should be fired.

Both the tabletop and the taraflex look like a turd for some reason.

The adjustment is so painfully simple:

 

[boretennis]

Whoever is setting the white balance in these streams should be fired.

Both the tabletop and the taraflex look like a turd for some reason.

The adjustment is so painfully simple:

yes, it's really bad this time. i saw some audience videos on social media and they looked much better...

 

[joshmak10]

The future of CNT Men is dire if our current WR2 player can’t even beat a 37 year old past his prime. Not even a close 2-3 loss too. Xue Fei proves again why he only exists to beat Harimoto.

Here’s hoping one of WRB/HYZ/ZQH/XF win the whole thing, although realistically one of the non CNT quarter finalists will probably end up winning the whole thing

 

[pongfugrasshopper]

SYB must be thinking Satsuki, you have another gear? Satsuki bullied SYB in G5 after a relatively even match.

 

[pongfugrasshopper]

Great match by Adriana taking down China's last woman standing, Chen Yi 11-4 in the decider. CY couldn't handle Adriana's chop blocks or heavy sidespin loops.

 

[AndySmith]

I love a Hugo vs Simon match, but they're both off-camera so many times....

Simon's blade seems to have the french flag on the handle. Wonder if he has his own named blade on the way.

 

[TampaBayTableTennis]

One set showdown, Dima vs JWJ!!!

wooohooo

 

[NextLevel]

One set showdown, Dima vs JWJ!!!

wooohooo

Lots of eye opening January results. The Top16 Cups are going to be interesting for sure. A month ago you would have bet on Felix and Truls. Probably still the right bet but not so sure anymore.

For some reason Duda fans have gone silent. I hope he finds his form.

 

[piligrim]

I would give yellow card to Dima for making noice. This too much

 

[dewnyc]

Jang and Cho take MD, came back from down 6-8 in the 5th
First title for JWJ in over 2 years? On his WTT profile page, the most recent that I saw prior to this was MD at the 2023 WTT Contender Lagos.

 

[andymagata]

So impressive that girls that has been successful on feeder level can take their game and challenge and even defeat world class players, like Sato, Yokoi and Shibata does at the moment and Joo from South Korea did in 2025.

 

[sebi]

My EJ mind starts thinking now, "How much does a super zlc blade costs now?" 😂😂

Why super ZLC dima plays ALC

 

[sebi]

So sade that the Germans can't perform consistently, duda was very good and now dropped, some with Franziska.

 

[NextLevel]

So impressive that girls that has been successful on feeder level can take their game and challenge and even defeat world class players, like Sato, Yokoi and Shibata does at the moment and Joo from South Korea did in 2025.

How so? Those ladies played feeder level because of the current ittf/wtt system not their playing level. Joo used to be a Chinese national team member who defected to Korea. Shibata and Sato were Japanese national team members in the 2010s and have always hovered close to that level but just are not on the first national team anymore because of the competition (Hayata, Ito, Harimoto etc). If those ladies played for countries that didn't have the quotas they would all be around the top 20.

 

[NextLevel]

So sade that the Germans can't perform consistently, duda was very good and now dropped, some with Franziska.

Everyone goes through cycles. The current ranking system mighr penalize you slightly more but it is easy to forgot when Dima and Bolll go through stuff. Even Lin Shidong is going through stuff now. FZD went through stuff in 2019 and 2020. Ma Long had tough year in 2018 and even part of 2019 and 2020 post surgery. Everyone goes through stuff.

 

[sebi]

Everyone goes through cycles. The current ranking system mighr penalize you slightly more but it is easy to forgot when Dima and Bolll go through stuff. Even Lin Shidong is going through stuff now. FZD went through stuff in 2019 and 2020. Ma Long had tough year in 2018 and even part of 2019 and 2020 post surgery. Everyone goes through stuff.

True still sad as german. I hope Dimitri can hold is form and duda to come back very strong.

I think with LSD everybody noticed to not just play backhand backhand he is just to good there, and now they try to punish him alot more in the forehand. Same issue Lin Yun Ju had, LYJ improved his forehand a lot. I think LSD is going trough that right now too.

 

[andymagata]

How so? Those ladies played feeder level because of the current ittf/wtt system not their playing level. Joo used to be a Chinese national team member who defected to Korea. Shibata and Sato were Japanese national team members in the 2010s and have always hovered close to that level but just are not on the first national team anymore because of the competition (Hayata, Ito, Harimoto etc). If those ladies played for countries that didn't have the quotas they would all be around the top 20.

If only they defected to Sweden, we need them! But then again, Finland needs them even moore! Thanks for the short background on Joo, that explains her looks a bit. I heard that Shibata also where like 13 on the world ranking 7 years ago…but still I am impressed because they should not be used to the tempo and cunning skills of the higher ranked players at least I thought so but start to consider other factors like underdog situation and the speed of someone like YOKOI is second to none and also the fact the higher ranked just where drained from last tournament.

I would love to see a world ranking that truly reflects the level of the players, even if that meant that only three nations would play in the major WTT events. Someone is clearly cheating - and it is not the players.

 

[ajtatosmano2]

If only they defected to Sweden, we need them! But then again, Finland needs them even moore! Thanks for the short background on Joo, that explains her looks a bit. I heard that Shibata also where like 13 on the world ranking 7 years ago…but still I am impressed because they should not be used to the tempo and cunning skills of the higher ranked players at least I thought so but start to consider other factors like underdog situation and the speed of someone like YOKOI is second to none and also the fact the higher ranked just where drained from last tournament.

I would love to see a world ranking that truly reflects the level of the players, even if that meant that only three nations would play in the major WTT events. Someone is clearly cheating - and it is not the players.

It's still early in the year, maybe we should start an elo style system in the forum for the wtt events.