Video: World Table Tennis via YouTube
WTT Champions Montpellier starts on Tuesday 27 October at the Sud de France Arena, with the 32 best men and 32 best women in the world rankings playing singles only until finals day on Sunday 1 November.
Sweden's Truls Moregard is the defending men's champion. He beat Japan's Sora Matsushima in last year's final, shown above. Matsushima arrives as world No.1 after winning WTT China Smash in a seven-game final against Lin Yun-ju.
The home crowd will be behind Felix and Alexis Lebrun. Felix, 20, won the European singles title in Ljubljana on 18 October and won his first WTT Champions title in Montpellier in 2024; Alexis reached the semi-finals here last year, Midi Libre reports. Flavien Coton, Thibault Poret and Simon Gauzy add more French interest.
The biggest news before the draw is an absence. Organisers had announced on 20 October that China's Wang Chuqin, the double Olympic champion, would play Montpellier for the first time, but WTT confirmed on 23 October that he has withdrawn injured. South Korea's An Jae-hyun, world No.38, takes his place. Wang has not played since losing to Lin Shidong at the Asian Games in late September and also missed China Smash. Felix Lebrun has never beaten him in eight meetings, Midi Libre notes. The draw is on Sunday 25 October. Lin Shidong, Wen Ruibo, Zhou Qihao, Xiang Peng and Liang Jingkun are listed for China.
In the women's draw, world No.1 Wang Manyu leads a Chinese group with Sun Yingsha, Kuai Man, Wang Yidi, Chen Xingtong and Chen Yi, with Japan's Miwa Harimoto and Hina Hayata the main challengers. France's Jia Nan Yuan and Prithika Pavade play at home.
After Montpellier the tour moves to WTT Champions Frankfurt (3-8 November) and WTT Finals Hong Kong (9-13 December).
Kit corner
Moregard uses the Cybershape Carbon CWT Truls Edition with Helix Platinum XH. Felix Lebrun plays the Felix Lebrun Hyper Carbon Inner with Hybrid K3.
Sources: Midi Libre, 20 Oct 2026 · Xinhua, 23 Oct 2026 · Midi Libre, 23 Oct 2026 · SportsIN, 22 Oct 2026 · WTT Montpellier FAQ
