Chennai, February 13 Snehit Suravajjula saved six match points in the deciding game to upset the 13th seed Japanese player, Mizuki Oikawa, while qualifier Nithya Mani defeated the 14th seed, Minhyung Jee of Australia, to reach the men's and women's singles pre-quarterfinals of the WTT Star Contender Chennai 2026 on Friday.
Also advancing to the men's pre-quarters were the 10th seed, G Sathiyan, and the 15th seed, Manush Shah. Sathiyan defeated Lim Jonghoon of South Korea 3-1 (11-7, 9-11, 11-9, 13-11), while Manush beat Park Gyuhyeon of South Korea 11-6, 11-7, 11-9. Sathiyan will now face the 8th seed, Romanian Eduard Ionescu, while Manush will meet Lubomir Jancarik of the Czech Republic.
Snehit staged a spirited comeback from a 0-2 deficit, forcing a deciding game before holding his nerve to convert his third match point and seal a thrilling 3-2 win (9-11, 15-17, 11-4, 11-6, 18-16) in 52 minutes. This victory sets up a round-of-16 clash against the top seed, Oh Junsung.
World No. 481 Nithya upset the 14th seed, Jee of Australia, 3-2 (10-12, 12-10, 8-11, 11-7, 11-7) in the second round. She will now face the 4th seed, Cheng I-Ching of Chinese Taipei, who defeated Ayhika Mukherjee 3-1 (11-9, 11-5, 11-13, 11-5).
However, it was Snehit's win that kept everyone on the edge of their seats on Friday.
Explaining what was going through his mind during the crucial fifth game, Snehit said, "I was just telling myself to focus on one point at a time and not think about the score. I made mistakes on the first two match points."
The 25-year-old said he went into the match without much expectations, but the first two games he lost actually gave him the confidence that he could put up a fight.
"I lost the first game 9-11, and I was struggling to believe that I could match his level. Then I lost the second game, which was also close, but that gave me the confidence to win the next," he added.
Meanwhile, wild card entrants Payas Jain and Syndrella Das upset the top seeds, Manush Shah and Diya Chitale, 3-1 (12-10, 13-11, 10-12, 11-9) to reach the mixed doubles semifinals.
India is assured of one spot in the mixed doubles final as they will face the 4th seeds, Harmeet Desai and Yashaswini Ghorpade, in the semifinals.
