Moregard and Yidi win in Montpellier

(by Steve Hopkins, photo WTT)

After a week largely marked by setbacks, the top remaining seeds took both singles titles at the WTT Champions Series event in Montpellier. Sunday’s matches were fast-paced, with both semi-finals ending 4-1 and the final 4-0. Japan’s Sora Matsushima won the early semi-final of the men’s singles, beating Jang Woojin. In the other half of the draw, Truls Moregard was dominant against Alexis Lebrun, dropping only game 3 in that 4-1 win.

The final lacked much of the drama from earlier in the week, with Moregard winning the first game 11-9 and never looking back. A 4-0 win gives Moregard his second Series victory. Just as important as the win were the $40,000 prize and 1000 ranking points. Those points won’t be enough to overtake Tomokazu Harimoto, who is currently fourth (and one place above Moregard), but it will bring him much closer, and it will secure his place above Jingkun and Felix Lebrun, who are both close behind.

Wang Yidi was a clear favorite for today’s final. She had one of the toughest paths to the final through Hina Hayata, Bruna Takahashi and Miwa Harimoto, recording a 4-2 win over Joo Cheonhui in the semifinals. Yidi faced Sabine Winter – and Winter won the first two matches, and the fifth. That is, Yidi was behind by three in the match and had to win games 6 and 7 to win. She did just that, with a 12-10 win to tie the match at 3-3, and then an 11-9 win in the seventh game to take the title.

The next stop in the Tour is WTT Champions Frankfurt, which starts on Tuesday. The draws for Frankfurt have already been announced, with Hugo Calderano and Tomokazu Harimoto as the top two seeds. The American Kanak Jha will face Darko Jorgic on Tuesday evening. Other Tuesday matches include Lee Sang Su, Patrick Franziska, Anders Lind and Tomokazu Harimoto.

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