WTT Star Contender Chennai 2025: Manav Thakkar’s dream run ends in semi-finals

The WTT Star Contender Chennai 2025 concluded on Sunday with Japan’s Miwa Harimoto and the Republic of Korea’s Oh Jun-sung winning the women’s and men’s singles table tennis titles, respectively.

India’s campaign in the tournament, meanwhile, ended earlier on the day with Manav Thakkar’s 3-1 (12-10, 11-9, 7-11, 11-7) semi-final loss to world No. 54 Thibault Poret of France in men’s singles.

Having become the first men’s Indian table tennis player to reach a WTT Star Contender semi-final just a day earlier, Manav delivered a spirited performance at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium, pushing the 20-year-old Frenchman in a thrilling, high-intensity contest.

Despite narrowly missing out in the first two games, the 24-year-old from Rajkot rallied brilliantly to claim the third. Poret’s exceptional defensive display throughout, however, saw the Frenchman hold out to reach the final.

Poret would eventually go on to finish runners-up in the tournament after losing a marathon final 4-3 (9-11, 11-7, 11-3, 9-11, 6-11, 11-4, 11-7) to 18-year-old Oh Jun-sung, who claimed his first-ever WTT Star Contender title.

The women’s singles final was equally engrossing with the 16-year-old Miwa Harimoto, a Paris 2024 Olympic medallist, defeating Japanese compatriot Honoka Hashimoto 4-2 (9-11, 11-3, 11-8, 11-9, 10-12, 11-7) to win her maiden WTT Star Contender singles crown.

Miwa Harimoto and Honoka 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 the third game 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, Miwa Harimoto thrived under pressure, showcasing exceptional agility and tactical brilliance to win the final.

Harimoto also won the women’s doubles title with Japanese teammate Miyuu Kihara after defeating South Korea’s Shin Yu-bin and Ryu Hanna 3-2 (9-11, 11-9, 13-11, 12-14, 11-5, 11-5) in a dramatic final on Saturday.

South Korea’s Lim Jong-hoon and An Jae-hyun powered their way to the men’s doubles crown, defeating top seeds Tomokazu Harimoto and Sora Matsushima of Japan 3-1 (11-4, 11-13, 11-2, 11-3).

The mixed doubles title at the WTT Star Contender Chennai also went to a South Korean team with Lim Jonghoon/Shin Yubin defeating Japan’s Maharu Yoshimura/Satsuki Odo 3-0 (11-8, 11-5, 11-4) in a one-sided final match on Sunday.

WTT Star Contender Chennai 2025 winners

Click here to read article