Former U-17 World No. 1 Payas Jain delivered a major upset on the opening day of the WTT Star Contender Chennai by defeating Commonwealth Games and Asian Games medallist G Sathiyan in the Round of 64. The unexpected win has drawn attention to the young paddler's potential in the ongoing tournament.
Meanwhile, Indian table tennis legend Sharath Kamal began his farewell event with a commanding 3-0 victory over qualifier Anirban Ghosh. Sharath also teamed up with Snehit Suravajjula to beat Australia's Nicholas Lum and Finn Luu in a thrilling five-game men's doubles match.
The WTT Star Contender Chennai event, featuring top global paddlers, offers 600 ranking points for winners and a total prize purse of USD 275,000.
In other matches, the Japanese top-seeded duo Tomokazu Harimoto and Sora Matsushima displayed their dominance in the men's doubles, while Miwa Harimoto and Miyuu Kihara showcased similar success in the women's doubles draw.
The Gujarat trio of Manav Thakkar, Harmeet Desai, and Manush Shah also made strong starts in the men’s singles. Manav and Harmeet registered straight-game victories over Divyansh Srivastava and Kim Taehyun, respectively.
The tournament continues to attract attention with exciting performances and unexpected results.
