The WTT Star Contender Chennai started with a bang yesterday, as the men’s doubles No.1 seed, Indian pair Manav Thakkar-Manush Shah, crashed out 12-10, 8-11, 11-5, 11-9 at the hands of Thibault Poret-Flavien Coton.
Shah-Thakkar appeared to be in control from the outset, but threw away a staggering six game points to concede the first game. Although they levelled things up in game two, they struggled to keep hold of the tie and found themselves trailing again. In the final game, Shah-Thakkar scored four winners to overturn a 5-2 deficit but were pegged back twice before the French team set up two match points, taking it at the second attempt.
The Indians had enjoyed a bright start to 2026, reaching the semifinal of WTT Contender Muscat last month, with Shah winning the mixed doubles event and a men’s singles title at WTT Feeder Vadodara. For Poret-Coton, this is the first time they have teamed up at Infinity ∞ Arena since WTT Feeder Panagyurishte 2024.
The day almost went from bad to worse for Shah, as he narrowly avoided defeat in his second match of the day, this time alongside Diya Chitale as the mixed doubles No.1 seed beat qualifiers Oh Seunghwan-Kim Seongjin 10-12, 11-6, 12-10, 5-11, 11-9.
Over in the women’s doubles discipline, several enthralling ties unfolded at Tamil Nadu Physical Education and Sports University. One of the opening matches of the day saw No.1 seed Ryu Hanna-Kim Nayeong narrowly avoid defeat, as they squeezed past home crowd favourites Sutirtha Mukherjee-Ayhika Mukherjee over five games 11-4, 3-11, 6-11, 11-6, 11-8.
Hanna-Nayeong closed out game one with seven consecutive points, but the duo known as the Mukherjee Sisters, who aren’t actually related, absolutely dominated the next two games. First, they took nine of the opening ten points in game two and at one point found themselves sitting on a five point cushion in the third. But the experience of Hanna-Nayeong, who reached the semifinal of Europe Smash – Sweden 2025 and United States Smash 2025, led them to victory in the final two games.
There was another close call in the women’s doubles draw, when wildcards Swastika Ghosh-Sarah De Nutte came back from two games down to beat qualifiers Avani Tripathi-Kavya Bhatt 9-11, 11-13, 11-8, 13-11, 11-6.
One of the most highly anticipated fixtures of the day was women’s doubles No.2 seed Hitomi Sato-Saki Shibata facing off against Joo Cheonhui-Kim Seongjin, a match that guaranteed one of the favourites would go out at the first attempt. And this tie went the way of the Japanese side, who recovered from going a game down to progress to the quarterfinal with a 6-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-8 win.
The day also saw one of the craziest matches of the season so far, as Yuan Wan saved five match points to deny Adina Diaconuin an epic opening round showdown with a 11-8, 11-5, 11-13, 11-13, 15-13 victory.
Having met nine times previously on the world stage, Yuan Wan and Diaconu were no strangers. All the early signs in their 10th encounter pointed towards a quick evening’s work as Wan raced into a two-game lead.
However, it became abundantly clear that there was still plenty of time left in this one as Diaconu refused to throw in the towel.
Trailing 9-5 in the third, Diaconu would fight back to 10-8 where she’d save two match points to steal game three 11-13. Then, in another remarkable twist, the Romanian would do it again, denying Yuan Wan two match sealing opportunities to force a dramatic decider.
Saving all those match points, fate appeared to be smiling on Diaconu. From the jaws of defeat, the 26-year-old now stood on the cusp of an extraordinary victory, entering match point territory herself at 8-10 up. Neither of those opportunities would land, and she’d have three more bites of the cherry, going 10-11, 11-12 and then 12-13 up.
But a wild contest would somehow flip the other way as Yuan Wan found late inspiration, persevering under intense pressure to steal the rug right from under Diaconu’s feet, one-upping the Romanian’s four match point saves with five of her own to bring home the W.
Hoisting her arms above her head, Yuan Wan let out a huge roar in celebration as her opponent looked off into the distance in disbelief. The emotional rollercoaster had taken its toll on both players, but in the end, it was Wan who delivered the knockout punch.
The German now turns her attention to the round of 32 where she’ll meet more Romanian opposition, with No.9 seed Elizabeta Samara awaiting on Friday evening.
