The year 2025 ended with the WTT Finals, a solid end to an exciting year – but with some key injuries late in the event affecting the outcome. World No. 1 Wang Chuqin had put in a strong performance against Alexis Lebrun on his way to the semi-finals but then withdrew due to back pain. In the women’s section, world number 1 Sun Yingsha was forced to withdraw from her semi-final against Kuai Man due to an ankle injury.
Both players have opted out of the 2026 opening event in Doha, citing those injuries. There are some mixed signals from both players, as Sun played doubles with Chuqin in Hong Kong after her singles withdrawal, and Chuqin played through pain in the Chinese Super League final a few weeks ago. In any case, the short-term events will be without the world number 1 in both men’s and women’s singles.
The WTT has expressed concern about player workloads, something exacerbated by the top players regularly seeing more matches as they play deep into the tournament draws – and sometimes a problem when organizers and fans also want to see the best players finish in doubles events that further extend the length of tournaments and the number of matches played at each venue.
With this in mind, the WTT has announced the following changes to the 2026 WTT Finals event. The next Finals will be extended to six days. Mixed doubles will now be strictly a knockout format, limiting the number of matches in that event. The most immediate impact will be in mixed doubles, where the number of teams will be limited – with the competition now limited to eight teams competing in a knockout format.
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