The Last Woman Standing in Vegas Is Now a $300K Champion in Cyprus

A few months ago, Congya Zhang was standing deep in the biggest poker tournament in the world, surrounded by thousands of players and still going when most of the field had already disappeared.

She eventually finished 61st out of 9,208 entries in the 2026 WSOP Main Event , good for $150,000, and left Las Vegas as the last woman standing in the tournament.

Now, she has another story to tell.

This time, it happened in Cyprus .

Congya Zhang Wins Global Poker Championship

Congya Zhang has won the $2,200 Global Poker Championship at the 2026 Mediterranean Poker Party at Merit Crystal Cove Casino , working her way through an 830-entry field to collect $300,000 – the biggest live tournament score of her career.

It was not the kind of final table where she simply sat down and ran away with it, either.

Zhang started the final day 12th among 16 players, leaving herself plenty of work to do. For a while, she stayed relatively quiet, picking her spots and trying to keep her tournament alive.

Then the field got shorter.

And Zhang got going.

$2,200 Global Poker Championship Final Table Results

A Patient Comeback

By the time six players remained, Zhang had started finding the pots she needed.

She doubled up several times, picked up some timely hands and gradually moved herself into contention. It was the kind of comeback that required a bit of patience, something Zhang herself pointed to after the tournament.

“Day 2, I played very good. I’m very satisfied with myself. Day 3, I was a little bit nervous because I’m too short, but I believe in myself, so I always hang on… I have a lot of patience.”

That patience eventually turned into a serious stack.

Adrian State had been one of the biggest forces at the final table, but his run began to slow down. Zhang was there to take advantage.

State moved all in from the big blind with A♠ 5♥ and found Zhang waiting with A♦ K♠ . The board brought no help, and State was eliminated in fifth for $80,000.

Suddenly, Zhang was in control.

The remaining players included three Chinese players – Zhang, Meng Dian Peng and Yilu Yuan – along with  Sergei Petrushevskii.

Zhang would end up sending two of them to the rail.

Peng finished fourth for $100,000, while Yuan fell in third for $140,000, setting up a heads-up battle between Zhang and Petrushevskii.

The Final Hand Came Quickly

There wasn’t much time to settle in.

Zhang began heads-up play with roughly a 4-to-1 chip lead, putting Petrushevskii under immediate pressure.

After only a handful of hands, Petrushevskii picked up pocket fives and moved all in.

Zhang looked down at pocket jacks.

She made the call.

The board ran out clean for Zhang, and just like that, the tournament was over.

Petrushevskii collected $200,000, while Zhang had the trophy in front of her and $300,000 heading her way.

For someone who had started the day 12th out of 16, it was quite a way to finish.

“I have a lot of feelings, but the main one, I feel peaceful. I feel calm,” Zhang said after the win. “This is a fantastic year for me, so far. I’m growing up very fast. I feel very confident in myself.”

That confidence has certainly shown up at the table.

Zhang’s WSOP Main Event run put her on the radar earlier this year. In Cyprus , she followed it up with a much bigger payday and her first major title of this size.

The numbers tell part of the story, but the timing makes it even more interesting. Zhang went from navigating the enormous WSOP Main Event field in Las Vegas to winning a $2,200 championship event in Cyprus only months later.

And she wasn’t the only Chinese player making noise at the final table.

“I’m so proud of us, it’s a big moment for China ,” Zhang said. “Every Chinese player who comes so far to be here, they are all very good players.”

Now, with the $300,000 added to her results, Zhang’s live tournament earnings are closing in on the $1 million mark.

But perhaps more importantly, she has followed one memorable deep run with another result that is impossible to overlook.

After Las Vegas , she had already shown she could go deep.

In Cyprus, she finished the job.

Photos and quotes courtesy of PokerNews and Merit Poker.

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