Yoshimura, Li Yu-Jhun headline WTT Feeder Istanbul title sweep

If one result in Istanbul carried the clearest message for the next stretch of WTT events, it was Li Yu-Jhun’s maiden international women’s singles title. The Chinese Taipei player came through a tense 3-1 final over Korea Republic’s Park Gahyeon, 12-10, 9-11, 11-9, 11-2, and left Ata Sporları Merkezi with the kind of ranking and confidence boost that feeder events are built to create.

WTT Feeder Istanbul 2026 ran from 10-14 May at Ata Sporları Merkezi in Istanbul, Türkiye, with USD 30,000 in prize money split across a main draw that ran 12-14 May and qualifying on 10-11 May. The singles title that carried the most immediate weight was Li’s, not just because it was her first international women’s singles crown, but because she also reached the women’s doubles final on the same weekend, showing she can survive a deep draw twice over in one tournament.

Maharu Yoshimura delivered the men’s singles title that matched his seeding. The top seed and world No. 44 at entry beat Croatia’s Andrej Gacina 3-0 in the final, taking control early and closing 11-9, 11-9, 11-2 after both players had pushed through a demanding week. Yoshimura’s route included a semifinal win over India’s Ankur Bhattacharjee, while Gacina reached the final after surviving India’s Payas Jain in the last four.

Japan’s men also completed the doubles job. Ryoichi Yoshiyama and Kazuki Hamada won the men’s doubles title 3-1 over Maksim Grebnev and Nikita Artemenko, adding another marker for a Japanese squad that left Istanbul with the event’s men’s singles and men’s doubles trophies.

The other finals were just as decisive. India’s Sutirtha Mukherjee and Ayhika Mukherjee took women’s doubles 3-1 against Chien Tzu-Chi and Li, while Hong Kong’s Yiu Kwan To and Ng Wing Lam won mixed doubles 3-1 over Choi and Kim. Taken together, the five champions reflected the range of the draw, which included seeded players, qualifiers and wildcards such as Jan Valenta, Kenan Kahraman, Abdullah Yigenler and Nikita Artemenko. Istanbul did not just hand out trophies; it showed which names were ready to move up the feeder ladder next.