On 28th May 2023, Fan Zhendong, World No.1 Table Tennis (TT) player from China, won the Men’s Singles title at the 2023 International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) World Table Tennis (WTT) Championships defeating China’s Wang Chuqin (world no.2) in the finals held in Durban, South Africa.
- This marks Fan Zhendong’s 2nd Singles Title at the WTT championship and won the St. Bride Vase trophy for Men’s Singles.
- He previously won the Singles title in 2021 in Houston, the United States of America (USA). This also marks China’s 10th Men’s Singles title at the WTT championship, since 2005.
The 2023 ITTF World Table Tennis Championships, the 57th edition of the WTT Championship, was held from 20th to 28th May 2023 in Durban, South Africa.
About Fan Zhendong
i. At the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics, Fan Zhendong won the gold medal in the team event and the Silver medal in Men’s Singles.
ii. With this win, he also became an 8-time World champion: 4 times (2014,2016, 2018, 2022) in team events, twice, in singles(2021 & 2023) and twice in doubles (2017 & 2023).
Men’s Doubles:
Fan Zhendong along with Wang Chuqin won the Men’s doubles title defeating Jang Woojin and Lim Jonghoon of South Korea.
- They received the Iran Cup, the Men’s doubles trophy.
- Wang Chuqin, who appeared in the men’s singles for the first time, won the Mixed Doubles and Men’s Doubles (along with Fan Zhendong) titles in the 2023 ITTF tournament.
China’s Sun Yingsha won her maiden Women’s Singles title:
World No. 1 Women’s TT Player, Sun Yingsha from China, won the Women’s Singles title at the 2023 ITTF World Table Tennis (WTT) Championships defeating her compatriot Chen Meng (World No 4).
- This marks her first-ever Women’s singles title at the WTT championship.
- She received the Geist Prize– the women’s singles trophy.
About Sun Yingsha:
i. In 2017, Sun Yingsha won her first singles victory at the ITTF World Tour held at the Japan Open in Tokyo.
ii. In 2019, she won the doubles event at the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary.
iii. In the 20201 Tokyo Olympic Games in Japan, she won a Silver medal in women’s Singles.
Women’s doubles:
Chen Meng and Wang Yidi of China won the Women’s doubles title defeating Shin Yubin and Jeon Jihee of South Korea.
- They received the W.J.Pope Trophy – Women’s doubles trophy.
Mixed Doubles:
World number one mixed doubles pair Sun Yingsha and Wang Chuqin won the Mixed Doubles title at the 2023 championship defeating Hina Hayata and Tomokazu Harimoto of Japan.
- With this win, the pair have retained their mixed doubles title at the WTT championship. they previously won the title in 2021 in Houston, USA.
- They received the Heydusek Cup- the Mixed doubles trophy.
Winners of 2023 championship:
| Event | Winner | Runners |
|---|---|---|
| Men’s singles | Fan Zhendong (China) | Wang Chuqin (China) |
| Women’s singles | Sun Yingsha (China) | Chen Meng (China) |
| Men’s doubles | Wang Chuqin and Fan Zhendong (China) | Jang Woo-jin and Lim Jong-hoon (South Korea) |
| Women’s doubles | Chen Meng and Wang Yidi (China) | Shin Yu-bin and Jeon Ji-hee (South Korea) |
| Mixed doubles | Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha (China) | Hina Hayata and Tomokazu Harimoto (Japan) |
