*This content was translated by AI.View Original
Both last year's men's and women's champions are absent. Who will be the new protagonists to fill their void? A total of 32 male and female players who survived four regular series rounds will compete for a total prize pool of 30 million won, challenging for the season's final pro table tennis league championship.
The "2026 Pro Table Tennis League FINALS IN Gwangmyeong," hosted by the Korea Table Tennis Professional League (KTTP) and organized by the Gwangmyeong City Sports Association, opened on the 12th at the Gwangmyeong Civic Gymnasium in Gyeonggi Province.
This tournament serves as the final stage of settlement for the four regular series that began in Incheon last March and continued through Mungyeong, Daegu, Jecheon, and Jeju. Based on the KTTP ranking points accumulated at each event, the top 16 men and 16 women, totaling 32 players, earned qualification to participate.
The tournament proceeds directly with a single-elimination bracket from the start, without any preliminary rounds. Seeds were assigned to the top 8 men and women, while the remaining players had their brackets determined by lottery. Games 1 through 4 are played under an 11-point system, but the final Game 5 is played under a 6-point system. This means the outcome of the final game will be decided even faster.
The biggest variable is the simultaneous absence of the defending champions. Last year's Finals men's singles winner Jang Woo-jin (31, SeAH) and women's singles champion Lee Eun-hye (31, Korean Air) withdrew due to injury. Men's regular series ranking No. 2 Jo Dae-sung (24, Hwaseong City Corporation) also dropped out due to injury, and women's ranking No. 3 Yoo Si-woo could not participate due to issues with her team contract.
Their vacancies will be filled by next-in-line players such as Nam Seong-bin (Hwaseong City Corporation), Park Chang-geon (Boram Hallelujah), Ji Eun-chae (Hwaseong City Corporation), and Kim Eun-seo (Korea Racing Authority). It is confirmed that new Finals champions will be crowned in both the men's and women's categories.
In the men's category, Jang Han-jae (Armed Forces Sports Agency), ranked No. 1 in the regular series, is cited as a top contender for the title. Jang continued his upward trend in the latter half of the season by reaching the top of the men's singles at Series 3 held in Jecheon last August. Additionally, Series 2 winner Park Kang-hyun (30, Mirae Asset Securities), Kim Jang-won (SeAH), Woo Hyung-gyu (Korea Racing Authority), and Park Gyu-hyun (21, Mirae Asset Securities) are also challenging for the top spot.
In particular, attention is drawn to the movements of Gil Min-seok (21, Armed Forces Sports Agency), who staged an upset in Jeju last month. On October 5, at the Series 4 men's singles final held at the Jecheon Gymnasium in Jeju, Gil defeated strong title contender Jo Dae-sung with a game score of 3-1 (11-8, 11-9, 7-11, 14-12).
Gil Min-seok, who entered the pro table tennis league for the first time alongside his enlistment in the military this year, tasted the bitter experience of elimination in the preliminaries in both previous series. However, on his third attempt, he secured his first individual singles victory on the adult stage.
At the time, Gil Min-seok was the son of Gil Jun-bang, a coach at Daejeon Dongmun Elementary School and former elite table tennis player, and former Foreign Exchange Bank player Lee Ju-yeon. Having picked up a racket following in his parents' footsteps, he left an emotional remark upon winning his first title, saying, "Thank you always, Dad, and I love you, Mom."
In the women's category, the competition between Choi Hyo-ju (28, Korean Air), ranked No. 1 in the regular series, and Lee Da-eun (21, Korea Racing Authority), ranked No. 2, is drawing attention. Choi recorded the most stable results by winning twice at Series 1 and Series 3 this year. Although she lost to Sim Hyeon-ju (27, Mirae Asset Securities) in the semifinals of Series 4, she advanced to the Finals as the overall season ranking No. 1.
Lee Da-eun's momentum is also formidable. As the inaugural women's singles champion of the pro league, she defeated Sim Hyeon-ju with a game score of 3-2 (12-10, 11-5, 4-11, 9-11, 6-1) in the Series 4 final held in Jeju last month. After winning the first two games, she was pushed into a crisis by losing the next two games in a row, but dominated the final 6-point game with a score of 6-1. Following her runner-up finish at Series 3, she reached the finals for the second consecutive tournament to claim her second victory of the season.
Series 2 winner Kim Ha-young (Hwaseong City Corporation) and Series 4 runner-up Sim Hyeon-ju are also aiming for the final championship. On the first day of the tournament, the 12th, the men's and women's singles round of 16 will be held simultaneously on two tables starting at 11 a.m. After a rest day on the 13th, the quarterfinals will take place on the 14th, followed by the semifinals and final on the 15th.
From the quarterfinals onward, all matches will be played sequentially on a single table installed on a special stage. The men's and women's champions will each receive a prize of 10 million won, while the runners-up will each receive 3 million won. The round of 16 matches will be broadcast on the official YouTube channel "KTTP Korea Table Tennis Professional League," and major matches from the quarterfinals onward can also be viewed on SPOTV PLUS. On-site viewing is free on the 12th, while admission is paid on the 14th and 15th. Tickets can be purchased through NOL.
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*This content was translated by AI.View Original
