(C) WTT SNS

DOHA, Qatar – South Korean table tennis duo Jang Woojin (31) and Cho Daeseong (24) have kicked off the new year by overcoming China’s dominance to claim their first World Table Tennis (WTT) title of 2026.

On January 18, at the WTT Star Contender Doha, the pair secured a hard-fought victory in the men’s doubles final against China’s Huang Youzheng and Wen Ruibo. Jang and Cho triumphed with a 3-2 set score ($5-11, 11-8, 11-6, 5-11, 11-9$), marking their first WTT series championship in three years and seven months since their last win at the Contender Zagreb in June 2022.

The victory was no fluke. The Korean duo had already signaled a major upset earlier in the tournament by defeating the world-class Chinese pairing of Lin Shidong (World No. 2) and Liang Jingkun (World No. 7) in the Round of 16.

The final was a dramatic seesaw battle that pushed both teams to their limits. In the deciding fifth set, with the score tied at 9-9, a grueling 13-shot rally ended with Jang’s powerful forehand drive, bringing them to match point. Cho Daeseong then sealed the victory when his backhand topspin forced an error from Huang Youzheng, whose block clipped the net and landed out of bounds.

This latest achievement reinforces the growing prowess of South Korean table tennis in doubles events. It follows the momentum set last December at the WTT Finals Hong Kong, where Lim Jong-hoon and Shin Yu-bin stunned the world by defeating the top-ranked mixed doubles pair of Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha.

With this victory, Jang and Cho have established themselves as a formidable force to watch as the 2026 international table tennis season gets into full swing.

[Copyright (c) Global Economic Times. All Rights Reserved.]