Kizukuri and Bajor claim titles at WTT Feeder Lagos in Portugal

Yuto Kizukuri changed the conversation in Lagos. The Japanese qualifier beat Portugal’s João Geraldo 3-2 in the men’s singles final, and Natalia Bajor followed with a 3-2 win over Asuka Sasao as WTT Feeder Lagos closed with two finals that carried real ranking weight and a clear message: the players who survived Portugal did more than collect a trophy, they bought themselves a stronger place in the next stretch of the WTT calendar.

Kizukuri’s run was the kind that Feeder events are supposed to reward. Listed in the draw as a qualifier, he knocked out Guilherme Teodoro 3-1, Andre Bertelsmeier 3-1 and Hung Jing-Kai 3-0 before beating Tiago Apolónia 3-0 in the semifinal. Geraldo, ranked WR No. 50 at entry and the home player carrying the pressure of expectation, forced a deciding match, but Kizukuri finished the job in five. For a player entering through qualifying, that is the sort of week that can change the shape of a season and open the door to better seeding and bigger main-draw opportunities.

Bajor’s title was different, but no less important. The Polish No. 2 seed had already shown her nerve by edging Jieni Shao 3-2 and then beating Li Yu-jhun 3-0 before meeting Sasao in the final. Sasao reached the title match after blanking Cocona Muramatsu 3-0, but Bajor handled the pressure points better, taking the last two games 12-11 and 13-11 after falling behind 2-1 in the match. That is the kind of finish that matters in the feeder tier, where one result can swing confidence, ranking position and the quality of the next draw.

The doubles titles added to the international spread of the week. Tiago Apolónia and Marcos Freitas gave the Portuguese crowd a home-side lift in men’s doubles, while Asuka Sasao and Kaho Akae won women’s doubles and HSU Hsien-Chia with CHEN Min-Hsin captured mixed doubles. All five finals were played on Tuesday, May 19, at Pavilhão Municipal de Lagos, wrapping a May 15-19 event with a USD 30,000 purse and a field deep enough to matter beyond the Algarve.

That depth is what made Lagos worth watching. With names like Geraldo, Ryoichi Yoshiyama, Ricardo Walther, Wim Verdonschot, Mattias Karlsson and Apolónia in the men’s draw, this was not a soft stop. It was the twelfth WTT Feeder Series tournament of 2026, and the two singles champions left it looking like players ready for harder brackets next time out.