Félix Lebrun Claims WTT Champions Chongqing Men's Singles Title

The WTT Champions Chongqing 2026, held March 10-15 at the Bloomage Biotech Biohyalux ECM Arena in Banan District, drew top-32 men's and women's singles fields with $800,000 in prize money and 1,000 ranking points on offer. It was the kind of stage that demands a complete performance across a grueling week, and Félix Lebrun delivered exactly that.

France's Félix Lebrun defeated China's Wen Ruibo 4-1 in a clash of two 19-year-olds to claim the men's singles title at the WTT Champions Chongqing. Fifth-ranked Lebrun, who is regarded as one of the world's leading penhold players, relied on his trademark quick-fire attacks to beat Wen 11-5, 11-8, 9-11, 11-7, 13-11. The fifth game went down to the wire, but Lebrun's nerve held at 13-11 to finish the job.

It's the second WTT Champions title for the Paris 2024 Olympic bronze medallist, after victory in Montpellier in 2024. Winning in China, in front of a crowd that was decidedly not cheering for him, adds a different dimension to this one. "This is an amazing journey," said Lebrun. "I am super excited that I won an event held in China."

Getting there wasn't clean. Lebrun had earlier eliminated Brazil's World Cup winner Hugo Calderano and Japan's Sora Matsushima, both in seven sets, on his way to the final. Calderano won the 2025 World Cup, making him one of the most dangerous players in the draw. Lebrun came from 1-3 down to snatch three straight sets in the same score of 11-6 in the semifinal against Matsushima, winning 7-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-13, 11-6, 11-6, 11-6. That kind of mental fortitude showed up more than once during the week. Asked about how he twice came from 3-1 down to triumph, Lebrun said: "I just kept going. I kept telling myself that I would have chance to turn the tables if I never lost my mind."

The penhold grip is a rarity at this level of the game, and Lebrun's success with it in China carries its own symbolic weight. Most of the table tennis world has moved to shakehand setups, so watching a penhold player dismantle one of the top-32 fields on the WTT circuit, on Chinese soil, is worth noting.

The women's title was just as compelling. Japan's teenage star Miwa Harimoto edged China's Kuai Man 4-3, avenging her 4-1 defeat to Kuai at the Asian Cup in February, prevailing 11-6, 9-11, 7-11, 11-9, 11-6, 9-11, 11-5. Harimoto, at 17, became the youngest player to win a WTT Champions title. Kuai appeared to fade in the deciding set as Harimoto surged into a 3-0 lead with aggressive forehand attacks before sealing the match with a series of winners.

Two 19-year-olds in the men's final, a 17-year-old taking the women's title: the WTT Champions Chongqing 2026 made a pointed statement about where the next generation stands right now.