Tomokazu Harimoto defeated Moregard 4-2 to claim his first WTT Finals men's singles title, earning 560,000 yuan in just five days.

On December 14th, Beijing time, the WTT Hong Kong Finals men's singles final unfolded with no Chinese national players participating. The two prominent foreign players, Moregard and Tomokazu Harimoto, fought for the title. After a fierce contest, Harimoto led steadily and defeated Moregard 4-2, reaching the pinnacle of the Finals and winning his first men's singles championship—a significant breakthrough. At the same time, Harimoto took home $80,000 in prize money, equivalent to 560,000 yuan in just five days, making him the biggest winner of the event!

Moregard, a renowned Swedish player, has had an impressive season, winning the Swedish Grand Slam and the Montpellier Open in France, significantly boosting his world ranking to fourth. Harimoto claimed the Yokohama title in Japan and is ranked fifth globally. Both players performed steadily in this tournament; Moregard advanced to the final partly due to Wang Chuqin’s withdrawal in the semifinals, while Harimoto fought a tough seven-game match to narrowly defeat Chinese player Lin Shidong 4-3 to reach the final. Overall, their skill levels are quite close, making the outcome highly uncertain and dependent on performance under pressure!

The match began with Harimoto aggressively attacking, gradually pulling ahead to take the first game 11-8. In the second game, Moregard unleashed his full power, beating Harimoto 11-5 to even the score at 1-1. The third game was a fierce battle reaching crucial points, with Harimoto edging out Moregard 11-9. The fourth game was equally tight, but Moregard held firm to win 12-10, leveling the match at 2-2. The turning point came in the fifth game, where Moregard surged ahead to 10-7 with three game points, but Harimoto showed great resilience under pressure to snatch the game 14-12, taking a 3-2 lead and gaining match point. In the sixth game, Moregard’s mindset completely collapsed, and Harimoto dominated with an overwhelming 11-2 victory, winning the match 4-2 and claiming the men's singles title!

From this match, the fifth game was the turning point—Moregard failed to hold on and subsequently collapsed, allowing Harimoto to emerge victorious. It seems Harimoto is getting stronger and poses an increasing threat to the Chinese national team. Except for Wang Chuqin, other players find it difficult to stop Harimoto. It can be said that the future of men’s singles will face tremendous pressure!

Written by/Titan Sports Novel