WTT Star Contender Chennai 2025: Payas Jain stuns Sathiyan Gnanasekaran in first round

Payas Jain produced one of the biggest upsets at the WTT Star Contender Chennai 2025, knocking out Olympian Sathiyan Gnanasekaran in the men’s singles round of 64 with a 3-1 (11-8, 2-11, 11-8, 11-3) victory on Thursday.

World No. 220 Payas Jain, 20, is a former ITTF Youth world No. 1 in the U-17 category, while the 32-year-old G Sathiyan, ranked 101, is a Commonwealth Games and Asian Games medallist.

Later in the day, Indian table tennis legend Sharath Kamal began his farewell event with a 3-0 (11-7, 11-9, 12-10) win over qualifier Anirban Ghosh at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium.

Sharath also partnered Snehit Suravajjula in the men’s doubles table tennis event to defeat Australia’s Nicholas Lum and Finn Luu 3-2 (11-6, 7-11, 13-11, 6-11, 11-9) in a five-game thriller.

Manav Thakkar, Harmeet Desai and Manush Shah also 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 doubles partner Sutirtha Mukherjee in five games.

Trading games throughout, Ayhika’s defence 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 as they both staged stunning comebacks to secure thrilling five-game victories in their respective women's singles clashes.

In the 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 by Paris 2024 Olympian Sreeja Akula and Swastika Ghosh.

Meanwhile, top-seeded Japanese duo Tomokazu Harimoto and Sora Matsushima dominated their men’s doubles clash while Miwa Harimoto and Miyuu Kihara progressed successfully in the women’s doubles.

Top-seeded Hong Kong China duo of Wong Chun Ting and Doo Hoi Kem asserted their dominance in the mixed doubles, securing a straight-games win.

WTT Star Contender 2025 will continue with the main draw on Friday across all five categories.

WTT Star Contender Chennai 2025 main draw Day 1 results

Men’s singles (round of 64)

Harmeet Desai (IND) Vs. Kim Taehyun (MLT) [WC] 3-0: 12-10, 11-5 11-5

Manav Thakkar (IND) Vs. Divyansh Srivastava (IND) [Q] 3-0: 11-4, 11-7, 11-7

Manush Shah (IND) [WC] Vs. John Oyebode (ITA) [Q] 3-1: 11-13, 12-10, 13-11, 11-6

Payas Jain (IND) [Q] Vs. Sathiyan Gnanasekaran (IND) 3-1: 11-8, 2-11, 11-8, 11-3

Sharath Kamal (IND) Vs. Anirban Ghosh (IND) [Q] 3-0: 11-7, 11-9, 12-10

Women’s singles (round of 64)

Ayhika Mukherjee (IND) Vs. Sutirtha Mukherjee (IND) [WC] 3-2: 11-9, 7-11, 11-8, 8-11, 12-10

Kavya Bhatt (IND) [Q] Vs. Wong Hoi Tung (HKG) 3-1: 11-8, 8-11, 11-6, 11-6

Zhu Chengzhu (HKG) Vs. Yoo Yerin (KOR) [WC] 3-0: 11-6, 11-8, 11-6

Jieni Shao (POR) Vs. Barbora Balazova (SVK) 3-1: 11-7, 11-8, 11-13, 11-9

Huang Yu-Jie (TPE) Vs. Yashaswini Ghorpade (IND) 3-0: 11-9, 11-6, 11-7

Divyanshi Bhowmick (IND) [Q] Vs. Giorgia Piccolin (ITA) 3-2: 13-15, 11-9, 9-11, 11-1, 11-6

Syndrela Das (IND) [Q] Vs. Suhana Saini (IND) [WC] 3-2: 9-11, 5-11, 12-10, 11-8, 11-8

Men’s doubles (round of 16)

Tomokazu Harimoto (JPN)/Sora Matsushima (JPN) [1] [WC] Vs. Anirban Ghosh (IND)/Sarth Mishra (IND) [Q] 3-0: 11-7, 11-8, 11-8

Sharath Kamal (IND)/Snehit Suravajjula (IND) [WC] Vs. Nicholas Lum (AUS)/Finn Luu (AUS) 3-2: 11-6, 7-11, 13-11, 6-11, 11-9

Lim Jong-hoon (KOR)/An Jae-hyun (KOR) [3] Vs. Abhinandh Pradhivadhi (IND)/Preyesh Suresh (IND) [Q] 3-2: 12-10, 11-5, 7-11, 9-11, 11-6

Manush Shah (IND)/Manav Thakkar (IND) [2] Vs. Harmeet Desai (IND)/Sathiyan Gnanasekaran (IND) [WC] 3-1: 11-7, 11-9, 7-11, 11-7

Women’s doubles (round of 16)

Miwa Harimoto (JPN)/Miyuu Kihara (JPN) [3] Vs. Syndrela Das (IND)/Suhana Saini (IND) [WC] 3-0: 11-7, 11-8, 11-8

Diya Chitale (IND)/Yashaswini Ghorpade (IND) Vs. Taneesha Kotecha (IND)/Sayali Wani (IND) [Q] 3-1: 11-8, 5-11, 12-10, 11-5

Ayhika Mukherjee (IND)/Sutirtha Mukherjee (IND) Vs. Sreeja Akula (IND)/Swastika Ghosh (IND) [WC] 3-1: 11-7, 11-13, 11-7, 12-10

Satsuki Odo (JPN)/Sakura Yokoi (JPN) vs Kong Tsz Lam (HKG)/Lee Hoi Man (HKG) [Q] 3-1: 11-7, 11-4, 9-11, 11-2

Shin Yu-bin (KOR)/Ryu Hanna (KOR) [Q] Vs. Lee Eun-hye (KOR)/Kim Na-yeong (KOR) 3-2: 7-11, 11-2, 11-7, 6-11, 11-8

Zhu Chengzhu (HKG)/NG Wing Lam (HKG) [2] Vs. Radhapriya Goel (IND)/Nithya Mani (IND) [Q] 3-1: 6-11, 11-6, 11-8, 11-7

Mixed doubles (round of 16)

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