Wong Chun Ting, Chan Baldwin win thrilling five-game Sao Jose final

Wong Chun Ting and Chan Baldwin turned a final that was slipping away into a statement win, edging out the last three games of a five-game battle to claim the WTT Sao Jose men’s doubles title in São José dos Campos, Brazil. The Hong Kong pair entered as the No. 1 seeds and finished with the kind of closing stretch that has become the clearest sign of their rise.

The turning point came in Game 4, where Wong and Chan narrowly stole the frame to force a decider. That escape changed the match’s feel immediately. Instead of chasing Germany’s Andre Bertelsmeier and the Netherlands’ Wim Verdonschot from behind, the Hong Kong duo carried the momentum into Game 5 and completed the comeback under pressure.

Their path to the final had already been tight. World Table Tennis said Wong and Chan survived a grueling 3-2 semifinal against Bertelsmeier and Verdonschot, a result that underscored how little room for error they had across the knockout rounds. By the time they reached the title match, both pairs had already been tested in five-game epics, and the final followed the same pattern.

WTT later described the Sao Jose triumph as Wong Chun Ting and Chan Baldwin’s first WTT Star Contender men’s doubles title. It added another major line to a partnership that only became regular in 2024 and has moved quickly through the sport’s top tier. The same duo won their maiden WTT Smash crown at WTT Europe Smash in Sweden on Aug. 23, 2025, a result that South China Morning Post linked to their climb to world No. 1 in men’s doubles.

That rise has been built on more than talent. After the Europe Smash win, Wong and Chan said they had “played braver” and that courage and determination made the difference, a fitting description for the way they handled the pressure in Sao Jose. Closing a final after nearly losing Game 4 is the kind of test that changes how opponents view a team, and it gives the Hong Kong pair another credential to carry into future WTT events.