Eighteen-year-old Oh Jun-Sung of Korea and Japan’s Miwa Harimoto, 16, won the men’s and women’s singles titles respectively at the WTT Star Contender Chennai 2025 on Sunday.
Local hero Manav Thakkar also created history by being the first Indian paddler to reach the men’s singles semi-final at a WTT event.
In the men’s final, Jun-Sung defeated French youngster Thibault Poret in a seven-game thriller while Harimoto, an Olympic medallist in Paris 2024, defeated her compatriot Honoka Hashimoto 4-2 to win her first crown at this level.
The scoreline in the men’s final in favour of Jun-Sung read 9-11, 11-7, 11-3, 9-11, 6-11, 11-4, 11-7. Harimoto beat Hashimoto 9-11, 11-3, 11-8, 11-9, 10-12, 11-7.
Earlier in the day, Manav’s historic run came to an end in the penultimate round with a hard-fought 1-3 loss to Poret in the semi-final.
The impressive last-four finish earned the Indian 210 WTT ranking points and a prize of USD 4,000 (INR 3.42 lakh) marking a significant achievement for Indian table tennis.
South Korea’s Lim Jong-hoon and Shin Yu-bin, meanwhile, won the mixed doubles title with a straight-game victory. They beat the Japanese pair of Maharu Yoshimura and Satsuki Odo 11-8, 11-5, 11-4 in quick time.
Playing in front of a packed house at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium, Harimoto and Hashimoto engaged in spectacular long rallies, testing each other’s endurance and precision.
The first two games saw both players cancelling each other out, but from Game 3 onwards, the contest took on a new dimension under the restriction of the Expedite Rule.
Forced to play faster and more decisively with the 13-shot cap in place, Harimoto thrived under pressure, showcasing exceptional agility and tactical brilliance. Despite her opponent’s relentless resistance, the 16-year-old held her nerve to win the women’s singles final.
Later, the men’s singles final between Jun-Sung and Poret was a thrilling, end-to-end battle with momentum shifting at every turn.
Both players displayed incredible skill and resilience, keeping the crowd on the edge of their seats. Oh, trailing 2-3, mounted a brilliant comeback to win the last two games, sealing a dramatic victory.
