Payas Jain fights his way into the main draw. (Photo WTT)
The first order of business has been taken care of at WTT Contender Lagos 2026, with two days of qualifying setting up the main draw nicely. Sanil Shetty and Payas Jain are amongst the players who successfully navigated qualifying, but it was by no means easy.
Despite his status as the top qualifying seed, Payas was put through his paces, with his 6-11, 12-10, 5-11, 11-7, 11-9 loss to Milo De Boer consigning Payas to second place in Group 1.
Payas wasn’t out of it yet, but he’d need to find another level if he was to keep his qualifying hopes intact, and he stepped up to the plate. His opponent in the final qualifying round, Kolasi Wasiu, showed tremendous character to force Jain down to the wire, but the latter player held his nerve, pulling away from 4-4 in the deciding game to squeeze over the line 11-5, 11-6, 9-11, 10-12, 11-6.
Meanwhile, Sanil Shetty also saw his mettle tested in the final round of qualifying. Having topped his group, passing the first test with flying colours, Shetty carried plenty of wind in his sail as he approached the deciding round.
However, just like Jain, Shetty would be taken the distance, facing serious pressure as Remi Chambet-Weil came charging back from 2-0 down on games to 2-2. With a spot in the main draw on the line, it all came down to the fifth and final game, and it was Shetty who blinked last, holding his nerve when the heat was on to deny his Dutch counterpart 11-9, 11-9, 8-11, 9-11, 11-5.
Elsewhere, over in mixed doubles qualifying, Manav Thakkar-Manika Batra have added their names to the main draw mix, showcasing their title potential with a commanding 11-5, 11-5, 11-8 victory over Victor Joseph-Aziza Sezuo.
