With tickets completely SOLD OUT for the very first ever WTT Star Contender finals held in the UK, the players did not disappoint, as top seed Miwa Harimoto and fourth seed Dang Qiu were crowned champions!

Action commenced at 11am with the first Women’s Singles semi-final between Japan’s Hina Hayata and Cheng-I-Ching of Chinese Taipei. Cheng overcame Manika Batra in three straight games to advance to the semi-final. Hayata avenged her doubles les teammate Mima Ito, as she dispatched Zeng Jian of Singapore 3-0. Cheng took the first end 13-11, and it was the only end she was able to secure, as Hayata clawed her way back with the second game 12-10 before taking the two remaining games 11-6.

The first Men’s Singles event was an absolute epic. Lin Yun-Ju took on Tomokazu Harimoto. Lin overcame Sora Matushima after leading 2-0 in the semi-final, before finding himself 7-2 down in the fifth end, with a remarkable comeback he claimed his semi-final spot to set up a third showdown between the pair this season. Harimoto is still aiming to add his fourth WTT Men’s Singles title to his long list of achievements in London, as he was able to find a comeback of his own to defeat the Chinese Taipei player. Lin took the first end before a closer than close second, saw Harimoto level the score, and kick on to take a 2-1 lead. In the decisive fourth end, the Japanese, world ranked number 3 faced two game points from Lin to force a decider, however he fought back to take the game and match winning 4 consecutive points.

Miwa Harimoto took on teammate Honoka Hashimoto in the final Women’s Singles semi-final. Miwa the younger sister of Tomokazu, is going for her fifth singles title on this year’s WTT series. Harimoto defeated Yang Yiyun of China 3-0 in her quarter final which was great practice for facing the Japanese defender. Harimoto looked set to join her brother in the final, before Hashimoto hit back, and with the play style of Hashimoto being built around patience, the game was forced into expedite. With both players having to play to win the points based on the number of shots in the rally, it was Harimoto who came out on top 11-5 in the fourth.

In the semi-final between the two European men, Milosz Redzimski of Poland and Dang Qiu of Germany the game got off to a dominant start for the German international as he whitewashed his opponent and took the first end 11-0. Redzimski started game two without winning a point in the entire match, but hit back in style to take the second 11-7. Both players fought hard which resulted in a fifth and final deciding end of action, which saw Dang secure his place in the final coming through 11-5.

The final match of the AM session saw the Mixed Doubles champions crowned, as Lin Yun-Ju and Cheng-I-Ching combined to take on Wong Chun Ting and Hoi Doo Kem of Hong Kong, the first time these pairs have collided since 2019. In that year it was the Chinese Taipei pair who came out on top in both meetings, and history repeated itself as the Chinese Taipei pairing lifted the trophy after overturning a 1-0 deficit to take the match.

The completely sold out final session of WTT Star Contender London got underway with the Women’s Singles Final between two Japanese teammates, it was the lower ranked Hayata that raced into an early two game lead, Harimoto did not just reply to equalise but actually pulled ahead and looked like she was heading for a 4-2 victory before an inspired Hayata sent us into a deciding 7th end thriller to the pleasure of the sold out home crowd. Hayata took an early lead in the decider, but could not stop Miwa who was determined to secure the first ever WTT Star Contender London, as she took the match 11-9, the two point scoreline showing just how difficult it was to separate the two global superstars.

Dang Qiu was crowned WTT Star Contender London 2025 Men’s Singles Champion with an emphatic 4-2 victory over the world number 3 and the highly supported top seed. It was only two points which separated two of the biggest names in World table tennis in each of the first three ends, which Dang came out on top on all three occasions. Tomokazu Harimoto is known for his fight and passion on the table, and it was inevitable that Dang would be able to stop him from getting on the board, which he did so 11-9 and 11-7, before holding a game point to take us to yet another Championship deciding 7th end. However, the German star who remained calm throughout, took his opportunity and took the title closing out the 6th end 12-10.

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