As Sharath Kamal started to play his last tournament, former junior world no 1 Payas upsets Sathiyan, while Manush, Manav, Harmeet advance to the next level.
Former ITTF Youth World No 1 (U-17) Payas Jain produced the biggest upset of the opening day at WTT Star Contender Chennai 2025. He knocked out Commonwealth Games and Asian Games medallist Sathiyan Gnanasekaran in the Men’s Singles Round of 64.
Meanwhile, top-seeded Japanese duo Tomokazu Harimoto and Sora Matsushima dominated their Men’s Doubles clash, while Miwa Harimoto and Miyuu Kihara mirrored their success in the Women’s Doubles draw.
Later in the day, Indian Table Tennis legend Achanta Sharath Kamal began his farewell event with a confident, straight-games win over qualifier Anirban Ghosh. Sharath also partnered Snehit Suravajjula in Men’s Doubles to defeat Australia’s Nicholas Lum and Finn Luu in a five-game thriller.
Gujarat trio Manav Thakkar, Harmeet Desai, and Manush Shah made strong starts in the Men’s Singles. Manav and Harmeet cruised through in straight games, defeating qualifiers Divyansh Srivastava and Kim Taehyun, respectively. Wildcard Manush overcame a slow start, rallying from a game down to edge past Italian qualifier John Oyebode in a hard-fought encounter.
In a gripping all-Indian Women’s Singles clash, Ayhika Mukherjee edged past Wildcard–and her usual doubles partner–Sutirtha Mukherjee in a five-game thriller. Trading games throughout, Ayhika’s defensive prowess proved crucial as she clinched the decider 12-10 to move into the next round.
Later, 15-year-old Syndrela Das and 14-year-old Divyanshi Bhowmick showcased incredible grit, both staging stunning comebacks to secure thrilling five-game victories in their respective Women’s Singles clashes.
Top-seeded Hong Kong duo Wong Chun Ting and Doo Hoi Kem asserted their dominance in Mixed Doubles, securing a straight-games win.
In Women’s Doubles, Diya Chitale and Yashaswini Ghorpade battled past qualifiers Taneesha Kotecha and Sayali Wani.
Opponents earlier in the day, Ayhika and Sutirtha later teamed up for a Round of 16 clash, but were defeated in one of the day’s many surprises by the Wildcard pairing of Sreeja Akula and Swastika Ghosh.
