{"id":9447,"date":"2026-02-14T07:17:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T00:17:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/?p=9447"},"modified":"2026-02-14T07:17:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T00:17:16","slug":"oyebode-living-his-dreams-in-chennai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/oyebode-living-his-dreams-in-chennai\/","title":{"rendered":"Oyebode living his dreams in Chennai"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Through to the third round of a WTT Star Contender event for the first time, John Oyebode is living the dream at WTT Star Contender Chennai, extending his stay in the men\u2019s singles draw with a statement 11-8, 11-9, 11-9  win over No.6 seed Kristian Karlsson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Oyebode, who encountered a round of 64 setback last year in Chennai, entered the week\u2019s action at World No.181 and was the overwhelming underdog on Friday evening, facing off against a player who was ranked in the World Top 15 only a few seasons back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, in a week that\u2019s been packed with drama, the Italian would contribute one of the biggest upsets so far. Celebrating every point he won with passion, Oyebode cut through Karlsson with explosive power on offense, ending the match with a punishing third ball attack beyond Karlsson\u2019s reach to clinch an unforgettable victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-embed-handler wp-block-embed-embed-handler wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"John Oyebode vs Kristian Karlsson | MS R32 | #WTTChennai 2026\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/G8i2aWCMC88?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>With local star Manav Thakkar exiting earlier in the day, the Chennai faithful lent their support to the remaining Indian hopefuls left in the draw, and they weren\u2019t left disappointed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>No.4 seed Manav lost 6-11, 7-11, 11-9, 9-11 to Lubomir Jancarik. Thakkar is 13 years younger than Jancarik and is currently sitting at a career-high World No.33, 141 places higher than the Czech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Meanwhile, laying claim to his first senior title just last month, things continue to progress at an exciting rate for Manush Shah, who banked his ticket to the round of 16 with a commanding 11-6, 11-7, 11-9 win over Park Gyuhyeon. Elsewhere, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran also got in on the act, producing a seriously impressive display to eliminate Lim Jonghoon 11-7, 9-11, 11-9, 13-11.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A plethora of other upsets have also blown the contest wide open with Snehit Suravajjula\u2019s miraculous comeback against Mizuki Oikawa in the men&#8217;s singles round of 32, where the Indian saved six match points to win 9-11, 15-17, 11-4, 11-6, 18-16, just one of several enthralling affairs .<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Meeting the No.13 seed Oikawa for the first time on the WTT Series, World No.100 Suravajjula soon found himself two games down. But that doesn\u2019t tell the whole tale. Suravajjula could have brought the tie level after saving five Game Points and failing to convert one before his Japanese opponent eventually sealed Game Two.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Suravajjula\u2019s comeback started in style, as the 25-year-old cruised through the third game before scoring seven points in a row to come from behind in the fourth. As if that wasn\u2019t enough action already, Suravajjula came back again, this time from 2-5 down in the final game to lead 7-5, only for Oikawa to go 7-9 up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Japanese then blew two match points before Suravajjula missed two of his own. Oikawa then squandered his third, fourth, fifth and sixth match points before Suravajjula finally got the vital two he needed for the win.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-embed-handler wp-block-embed-embed-handler wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Snehit Suravajjula vs Mizuki Oikawa | MS R32 | #WTTChennai 2026\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/64IrcDpcOms?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Women\u2019s singles top seed Satsuki Odo couldn\u2019t have asked for a better start to her week in Chennai, showing her authority as the out-right title favourite with a powerful 11-7, 11-8, 11-7  victory over qualifier Sachi Aoki. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But there was a dramatic shakeup in the opposite half of the draw, as No.7 seed Bernadette Szocs saw her week come to a premature end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A former WTT Finals semifinalist, the Romanian player was well-backed to go all the way in Chennai. But a jaw-dropping effort from 17-year-old Peng Yu-Han would crush those aspirations with a 11-9, 11-8, 15-13 win, meaning Szocs\u2019 pursuit of that elusive WTT Series title goes on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>World No. 481 Nithya Mani, ousted Minhyung Jee 10-12, 12-10, 8-11, 11-7, 11-7, the No.14 seed who is ranked 431 places higher, as the drama refused to stop in Chennai. That was Mani\u2019s fourth 3-2 win of the event, as she fought tooth and nail through two qualifying matches and the round of 64, coming from behind in all of them, to get this far.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>World No.88 Huang Yu-Jie pulled off a stunning straight-games 11-9, 11-5, 11-9 win over No.5 seed Miyuu Kihara.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>All those matches came after a series of upsets blew the women\u2019s doubles draw wide open.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>World No. 985, Lakshita Narang-Hardee Patel headed to Chennai as the second-lowest-ranked women\u2019s doubles side. But that didn\u2019t stop them from knocking out the qualifiers&#8217; top seed Jennifer Varghese-Suhana Saini in an all-Indian battle and progressing to the semifinal with a  11-7, 11-6, 13-11 win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>No.2 Seeds, Hitomi Sato-Saki Shibata, lost to Sakura Yokoi-Sachi Aoki in a five-game thriller, with the latter winning 11-4, 8-11, 7-11, 11-9, 11-9. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Just a few hours later, the mixed doubles No.1 seed also crashed out, as wildcard Syndrela Das-Payas Jain put Diya Chitale-Manush Shah to the sword as they picked up a 12-10, 13-11, 10-12, 11-9 win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-embed-handler wp-block-embed-embed-handler wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Top Points of Day 2 | #WTTChennai #TableTennis\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/MlU3s9i4W4U?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Through to the third round of a WTT Star Contender event for the first time, John Oyebode is<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9451,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[65],"class_list":["post-9447","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsbeat","tag-table-tennis"],"aioseo_notices":[],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/John-Oyebode.jpg",1920,1080,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/John-Oyebode-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/John-Oyebode-300x169.jpg",300,169,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/John-Oyebode-768x432.jpg",640,360,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/John-Oyebode-1024x576.jpg",640,360,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/John-Oyebode-1536x864.jpg",1536,864,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/John-Oyebode.jpg",1920,1080,false],"morenews-large":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/John-Oyebode-825x575.jpg",825,575,true],"morenews-medium":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/John-Oyebode-590x410.jpg",590,410,true]},"author_info":{"info":["admin"]},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/category\/newsbeat\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Newsbeat<\/a>","tag_info":"Newsbeat","comment_count":"0","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/John-Oyebode.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9447","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9447"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9447\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9452,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9447\/revisions\/9452"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9451"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9447"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9447"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}