China's Lin, Sun secure tickets to WTT Finals

China's Lin Shidong and Sun Yingsha have secured berths for the season-ending World Table Tennis (WTT) Finals to be held in December, as the WTT announced the first batch of qualified paddlers on Tuesday.

Lin Shidong returns the ball during the men's singles round of 16 between Lin Shidong of China and Alexis Lebrun of France at World Table Tennis (WTT) Finals Fukuoka 2024 in Kitakyushu, Japan, Nov. 21, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhang Xiaoyu)

In the men's singles, world No. 1 Lin is joined by compatriot Wang Chuqin, Japan's Tomokazu Harimoto and Sweden's Truls Moregard, who was crowned at the WTT Europe Smash on home soil last weekend.

On the women's part, Chinese trio of Sun, Kuai Man and Chen Xingtong, along with Zhu Yuling, who now represents Macao, China, have qualified for the season finale.

China's Lin Shidong and Kuai Man, and South Korean duo Lim Jong-hoon and Shin Yu-bin are the first qualifiers in the mixed doubles event.

The WTT Finals will take place in Hong Kong, China, from December 10 to 14, hosting the world's top 16 men's and women's singles players, and seven mixed doubles pairs along with one host wildcard.

For singles players, qualification is determined by their best four Grand Smash, four Champions, and six Contender results, with eligible-but-missed events still counted in the race. For mixed doubles pairs, the qualification is a combination of the best Grand Smash and Contender finishes.