A Status Report on the National Men's Team's Six Biggest Rivals
The “table-tennis F4” now commonly refers to four young talents among the men’s team’s main rivals: Felix Lebrun, Moregard, Tomokazu Harimoto, and Lin Yun-Ju. The F4 already hit a milestone: since last year, all of them have reached a WTT Smash final. Recently there is also the “F6,” adding the superb Hugo and the fast-rising Sora Matsushima. Today we break down this F6, by the latest world singles rankings.
Truls Moregard
Gear: Cybershape 6-CWT gold label, Helix Platinum on both sides Recent results: 2026 Singapore Smash semifinal; 2025 Hong Kong Finals runner-up; 2025 Montpellier Champions title; 2025 Europe Smash title; 2025 Yokohama Champions semifinal; 2025 Doha Worlds semifinal.
Having taken men’s singles runner-up at the Houston Worlds and the Paris Olympics, and still very young, his strength and potential cannot be underestimated. He has beaten Wang Chuqin and Lin Shidong, with very rich tactics and rhythm changes. Anyone who faces him gets a headache. His form over the past year has been quite good. Beyond varied strokes, his game is fiercer, stressing the forehand finishing blow. His receive variation is abundant, with a natural feel that makes different changes at contact. His backhand is also special — the mainstream now is loop-drive and counter-rip, but he uses the traditional flick-hit more. What supports him is fairly complete all-around technique and a powerful spirit: even in the last match, he can enjoy it.
Hugo Calderano
Gear: Joola Hugo ARY-C, Joola Hugo Trinity Charged on both sides Recent results: 2026 Pan-American Cup title; 2025 Macao Champions runner-up; 2025 Doha Worlds runner-up; 2025 Macao World Cup title.
After Hugo lost 0-4 to Duda last August, his form dipped this past half year. Before that he was fearsome. At the Macao World Cup he beat Wang Chuqin and Lin Shidong for the title. At the Doha Worlds he took singles runner-up, losing to Wang Chuqin. After that, in Ljubljana he beat Felix 4-2; in Buenos Aires he beat Oikawa Mizuki 4-1; in Iguazu he beat Duda 4-3 — three titles. Put it this way: at big events he is still one of the men’s most terrifying rivals, on par with Harimoto. Because even against Wang Chuqin, both have a chance to win. They are not sure to beat our other mainstays, but every event they are title contenders. Over the past year, Hugo’s growth owes to a few things. One, a fundamental mental shift in how he treats competition — not carrying too much expectation or the pressure of past failures, but throwing himself in and enjoying it, finding joy again. Two, “training hard” and “better mental resilience.” Before big events, with each session he records his own growth and breakthroughs, reminding himself how far he has come.
Tomokazu Harimoto
Gear: Harimoto SALC, ZYRE-03 on both sides Recent results: 2026 Asian Cup runner-up; 2026 Doha Champions semifinal; 2025 Hong Kong Finals title; 2025 Yokohama Champions title; 2025 US Smash runner-up.
Harimoto is just like this — sometimes his form is ordinary and he is out in the round of 32; sometimes it is great and he reaches the final. He likewise has experience beating Wang Chuqin and is almost Lin Shidong’s bogeyman. That is hard to deal with. Over the past year his tactics grew richer. The backhand banana flick has always been his strength, but at the Yokohama Champions he deliberately abandoned the flick, sent the ball long, and consciously defended, adding much spin on forehand loops. Looping added-spin into Wang Chuqin’s middle position caused many errors, and he finally beat Wang.
Felix Lebrun
Gear: Tibhar Felix, K3 Pro on both sides Recent results: 2026 Singapore Smash semifinal; 2026 Europe Cup semifinal; 2025 China Smash runner-up; 2025 US Smash semifinal.
Overall his results are fairly stable. But realize he is only 19 — a genius. Against our absolute mainstay Lin Shidong, he keeps winning. That puts huge pressure on our men’s team. His match rhythm has always been fast. Look closely: though his serve is mainly sidespin-up/down, the variation within is rich. He sometimes serves with the back of the blade. He also serves many long balls to set up his attack and speed-up, leaving opponents scrambling. The Tibhar Felix, considered a “bucket” blade, is all-around balanced and has fairly fast first-speed for an inner blade — leaning fast-loop, with consecutive play and close-table speed first.
Lin Yun-Ju
Gear: Super Viscaria, ZYRE-03, Dignics 05 Recent results: 2026 Singapore Smash runner-up; 2026 Doha Champions title; 2025 Incheon Champions semifinal; 2025 Asian Cup semifinal.
Among the F6, he played poorly in 2025. But 2026 has restarted, and his form is quite good. He played badly in 2025 partly from injury, partly because of equipment. Taiwanese media revealed that Lin Yun-Ju was very satisfied with his old main blade, but it got rattled soft, lost punch, and developed a soft spot in the sweet area — a “sunken pit” feel. But in 2025 he tried over forty blades without satisfaction, until he switched to a Super Viscaria he is happy with. So 2026 warmed up. His backhand is destructive and his forehand has further improved — he may bring us real trouble this new year.
Sora Matsushima
Gear: Fan Zhendong ALC, Dignics 09c, ZYRE-03 Recent results: 2025 Frankfurt Champions title; 2025 Montpellier Champions runner-up. Other results are some quarter- and round-of-16 finishes.
Still, visibly, he improved fast last year. He has beaten Wang Chuqin and Liang Jingkun. Matsushima won the All-Japan singles title two years running. His backhand switched from D05 to ZYRE-03 last year, making it harder to eat the opponent’s spin so he can jam more mindlessly. He serves a great many fast long serves — only someone with good enough defense dares to. His style stresses ferocity and speed.
That is the F6 status report. Hopefully this new year, our men’s team can have an F4 or F6 to match them in results.