WTT Star Contender: Chinese Women's Doubles Triumph in London, Tomokazu Harimoto Loses Title, Miu Hirano Wins Women's Singles

On October 27th Beijing time, the WTT Star Challenge in London wrapped up with all five titles awarded. The Chinese team, without their top players and only female participants, saw their women's doubles win the championship, creating a big surprise. In men's singles, Tomokazu Harimoto was upset 2-4 by Qiu Dang. In women's singles, Miu Hirano staged a 4-3 comeback victory over Hina Hayata to claim the title. The mixed doubles crown went to the Chinese Taipei pair Lin Yun-Ju and Cheng I-Ching, while the men's doubles title was won by Hong Kong's Fung Yik San and Kwok Guan Hong!

China did not field their full-strength squad this tournament, sending six female players to compete in singles and doubles. Due to strength limitations, the women's singles team failed to create an upset and all were stopped at the quarterfinals. However, the women's doubles brought a huge surprise, with qualifiers Shi Xunyao and Zhang Xiangyu fighting through to win the championship, a remarkable upset. Although Qin Yuxuan and Zong Geman did not win, finishing as runners-up, they made a great contribution by eliminating the Japanese pair Hina Hayata and Mima Ito on behalf of China!

The women's singles final was an all-Japanese showdown between Miu Hirano and Hina Hayata, both ranked in the world's top ten, promising an intense battle. At the start, Hirano struggled and fell behind 0-2, but she fought back persistently to push the match to a decider. In the final game, Hayata led initially but couldn’t withstand Hirano’s fierce comeback, losing 3-4 in a dramatic upset. Hirano took the championship and earned 600 ranking points!

In men's singles, Tomokazu Harimoto faced off against penhold specialist Qiu Dang. Harimoto had never lost to Qiu before, and with no Chinese players competing, this was Harimoto’s prime chance to win the title. However, Harimoto performed poorly, getting overwhelmed early and dropping three straight games. Although he rallied to win two more games and narrow the gap to 2-3, he ultimately lost 2-4 in the seventh game, missing out on the championship. Qiu Dang’s surprise victory left Harimoto visibly disappointed after the match — failing to win the title was truly unexpected!

Written by / Sports Novel

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