Harimoto Wins Men's Singles, Chen Claims Women's Title at WTT Champions; Controversy Arises

At the World Table Tennis (WTT) Champions held in Yokohama, Japan, Wang Chuqin of China was defeated by Tomokazu Harimoto of Japan in the men's singles final, with a score of 4-2. This loss ended Wang's eight-match winning streak against Harimoto, who is currently ranked fourth in the world. Previously, Wang had only lost twice to Harimoto in their 14 international encounters.

Wang, ranked second in the world, fell behind early in the match, losing the first three games. He then fought back, winning the next two games. However, in the sixth game, after Harimoto called a medical timeout, he secured the victory with an 11-4 win. According to a Beijing-based sports commentator, Wang made too many unforced errors, which gave Harimoto easy points. The commentator noted that it's difficult to recover from a 0-3 deficit and that Wang would have had the advantage if not for the mistakes.

In the semifinals, Wang had defeated Truls Moregard of Sweden 4-0, while Harimoto had won against Kanak Jha of the US with a score of 4-1. Earlier in July, Wang had previously defeated Harimoto 4-0 to win the WTT US Smash.

In the women's singles, Chen Xingtong won the title after an all-Chinese semifinal, defeating her teammate and World No. 1 Sun Yingsha with a score of 4-2. Chen expressed her surprise at the victory, stating that she would celebrate with her team upon her return.

Following Harimoto's victory over Chinese athlete Xiang Peng in the quarterfinals, a controversy arose when Harimoto accused Chinese coach Wang Hao of a perfunctory handshake. Video replays showed Harimoto celebrating his victory before approaching the Chinese team's coaching bench. Wang, however, was immediately engaged in reviewing the match with Xiang, offering Harimoto a quick handshake.

The incident sparked debate on Chinese social media. Some users commented that Wang had been waiting for the handshake, while others felt Wang had no obligation to wait. Former Olympic champion Xu Xin suggested that the best solution was for Chinese players to defeat Harimoto more frequently, as winning would encourage more respectful behavior.

The tournament in Japan, which ran from Thursday to Monday, featured 32 of the world's top table tennis players and offered a total prize of $500,000. The next major event will be the WTT Grand Smash Series in Malmo, Sweden, from August 14 to 24. The WTT China Smash 2025 is scheduled to take place in Beijing's Shijingshan district from September 25 to October 5.