Snehit Suravajjula stuns Mizuki Oikawa in WTT Star Contender Chennai

Hyderabad’s Snehit Suravajjula saved six match points to upset Japan’s Mizuki Oikawa and enter the men’s singles pre-quarterfinals of the WTT Star Contender Chennai. Sathiyan-Harmeet and Payas-Syndrela also registered impressive wins in doubles events

Hyderabad: Snehit Suravajjula of Hyderabad saved six match points in the decider to upset 13th seed Mizuki Oikawa of Japan and reach the men’s singles pre-quarterfinals of the WTT Star Contender Chennai, co-hosted by Ultimate Table Tennis, Sharath Kamal Academy and Stupa Sports AI with the support of SDAT at the Tamil Nadu Physical Education and Sports University in Chennai on Friday.

Snehit first fought back from a 0-2 deficit to take the match into the decider and then displayed nerves of steel to convert his third match point, winning 3-2 (9-11, 15-17, 11-4, 11-6, 18-16) in 52 minutes. He will now face top seed Oh Junsung in the Round of 16.

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Explaining what was going on in his mind during the tense fifth game, Snehit said, “I was just telling myself to focus on one point at a time and not think of the score, as I made mistakes on the first two match points.”

The 25-year-old said he went into the match without much expectation, but the first two games he lost actually gave him confidence that he could fight back. “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 confidence to win the next,” he added.

Earlier, the experienced men’s doubles pair of Sathiyan G and Harmeet Desai upset third seed French duo Florian Bourrassaud and Esteban Dorr 3-0 (11-7, 11-9, 11-7) to reach the semifinals. They will now face Korean second seeds Lim Jonghoon and Oh Junsung for a place in the final.

Meanwhile, wild card entrants Payas Jain and Syndrela Das upset top seeds Manush Shah and Diya Chitale 3-1 (12-10, 13-11, 10-12, 11-9) to reach the mixed doubles semifinals.