Top-seed duo of Manush Shah and Manav Thakkar bow sout in the opening round

Playing together only for the second time as a pair in two years, the unseeded French duo of Flavien Coton and Thibault Poret produced the biggest upset in men’s doubles, putting it across the top-seeded Indian pair of Manush Shah and Manav Thakkar 12-10, 8-11, 11-5, 11-9 in the opening round of the WTT Star Contender at TNPESU here on Thursday.

Later, the top-seeded duo of Manush Shah and Diya Chitale edged past the Korean qualifiers Oh Seunghwan and Kim Seongjin in the mixed doubles first-round, 10-12, 11-6, 12-10, 5-11, 12-10.

Saving six game points and reeling eight points in a row from being 4-10 down in the first game must have been a huge morale booster for the Frenchmen. Even though the Indians fought back to win the second game, the Frenchmen were outstanding in both the short game and long rallies from the back of the table. The spark in Manush’s game was missing as he made numerous unforced errors in receiving and his whipping forehand shots lacked the zip. Manav, who feeds off his partner’s strengths, fell into the rut of unforced errors.

Leading 10-7 In the fifth and deciding game, Manush and Diya lost their way as the Koreans equalised at 10. However, Manush took the responsibility to unleash two forehand winners to settle the issue. They will meet Payas Jain and Syndrela Das in the second round.

On the upset victory, Poret said: “We last played in WTT Feeder in Panagyurishte (Bulgaria) in 2024. After that, we were supposed to play in WTT Contender in Muscat in November last, but I suffered an ankle injury. We didn’t have any expectations coming into the tournament. We remain good friends and decided to take part here. ”

Important results (first round): Men’s singles: S. F. R. Snehit bt Divyansh Srivastava 9-11, 11-8, 6-11, 11-7, 11-6; Park Ganghyeon (Korea) bt Sanil Shetty 4-11, 11-5, 11-9, 11-6; Ankur Bhattacharjee bt Florian Bourrassaud (Fra) 11-5, 11-8, 3-11, 11-9.

Women’s singles: Ryu Hanna (Korea) bt Divyanshi Bhowmick 6-11, 11-6, 11-8, 11-5; Ayhika Mukherjee bt Neha Kumari 11-3, 11-5, 11-4.

Men’s doubles: Flavien Coton & Thibault Poret (Fra) bt Manav Thakkar & Manush Thakkar 12-10, 8-11, 11-5, 11-9; G. Sathiyan & Harmeet Desai bt Arjav Gupta & Jash Modi 11-6, 11-6, 11-4; Ankur Bhattacharjee & Payas Jain bt S. F. R. Snehit & Akash Pal 11-7, 11-7, 11-7;

Women’s doubles: Ryu Hanna & Kim Nayeong (Kor) bt Ayhika Mukherjee & Sutirtha Mukherjee 11-4, 3-11, 6-11, 11-6, 11-8; Adina Diaconu & Andreea Dragoman (Rou) bt Taneesha Kotecha & Sayali Wani 7-11, 12-10, 11-5, 11-8; Sakura Yokoi & Sachi Aoki (Jpn) bt Divyanshi Bhowmick & Syndrela Das 11-8, 11-2, 11-4.

Mixed doubles: Manush Shah & Diya Chitale bt Oh Seunghwan & Kim Seongjin (Kor) 10-12, 11-6, 12-10, 5-11, 12-10; Payas Jain & Syndrela Das bt Iskender Kharki & Sarvinoz Mirkadirova (Kaz) 11-8, 11-6, 11-7.