China's Chen Meng (left) celebrates with her teammate and opponent Sun Yingsha after the women's singles final of the table tennis competition at Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, July 29, 2021. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

BEIJING - World Table Tennis (WTT) on Friday confirmed that China's Sun Yingsha and Chen Meng are the first two players to lock in their spots at the Nagoya 2023 Women's WTT Finals.

The final event of the 2023 WTT Series, to be staged from Dec 15 to 17, will see the world's top 16 women's singles players and top eight women's doubles pairs vie for the season-ending championships

The final event of the 2023 WTT Series, to be staged from Dec 15 to 17, will see the world's top 16 women's singles players and top eight women's doubles pairs vie for the season-ending championships.

Having lifted the trophy at the WTT Cup Finals Xinxiang 2022 and WTT Cup Finals Singapore 2021, world No 1 Sun will head to Japan in search of a three-peat.

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The Chinese star displayed her dominance in 2023, claiming the women's singles titles at the WTT Singapore Smash, WTT Champions Xinxiang and WTT Star Contender Ljubljana. She has also been occupying the leading position of the world rankings on a 57-week streak.

"I am so excited to go to Nagoya. This moment will be a chance to put the training I've been doing to the test. Both mentally and physically, I am fully prepared and I will go all out to win every match," said Sun.

World No 2 Chen joins her compatriot to head to Nagoya. She was a finalist at last year's season-ending event in Xinxiang.

In 2023, Chen finished as the runner-up at WTT Champions Macao and WTT Star Contender Ljubljana, and also made a semifinal appearance at WTT Champions Xinxiang.

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"It means a lot to me to be able to play with so many amazing female athletes," commented Chen.

"WTT Finals Women Nagoya 2023 is not only an incredible stage to test ourselves, but it is also an opportunity to promote our sport. I hope more and more girls will get involved in table tennis after watching our matches. In this event, I will give it my all and bring out my best form to face any challenge and live up to everyone's support and expectations," she added.

With the first two tickets going to Sun and Chen, 14 spots remain in contention for the women's singles category of the WTT Finals.