Snehit Suravajjula saves six match points to reach pre-quarters; Indian finalist assured in mixed doubles

At Chennai’s WTT Star Contender, Snehit Suravajjula is once again on the cusp of a breakthrough. Last year, the 25-year-old tall TT player from Hyderabad scalped a Top 30 Yukiya Uda, and also ended up defeating India’s most celebrated paddler Sharath Kamal in his final match. He spent the offseason working on his strength with coach Somnath Ghosh, and the man with a hundred experiments in trying to invent new trick-shots on the table, was back to his favourite event.

On Friday, Snehit once again carried the crowd along as he saved six match points against Mizuki Oikawa, the World No. 61 from Japan. It was almost an encore of his win over Uda, where, from trailing 10-7 in the decider, he had taken 5 straight points to win 3-2 last year. In 2026, playing the Round of 32, he found it within him to rise from a 0-2 deficit, to snatch a seven-point lead in the third and then take the match into the decider. The flamboyant paddler botched two match points and converted the third, to win 9-11, 15-17, 11-4, 11-6, 18-16 in 52 minutes. He next plays top seed Oh Junsung.

What stood out as he neutralised all those match points was his wicked backhand known for its disconcerting flick pushes. Snehit, as such, is known for his aggressive forehand from where he carved out angles skimming the edges of the table. But the backhand has variations – in reel parlance, called the banana flick and strawberry flick – that boggled the Japanese as Snehit played clutch. Those dollops of backhands would make Chennai’s Greams Road Fruit Shop proud, such was his blade-like blitz, hitting flat, aiding his speed and reducing error-margins for opponents as he goes centimetres above the net with those fruity flicks.

He recalled his mindset that went from 0 to 100 during the first two games he lost. “First set I lost 11-9. I was struggling to believe I could compete at his level. But the second game I lost – also very close. 14-12 or something (15-17),” he said. His ability to incite chaos in the Japanese was enough to embolden him. “That’s when I started believing I can really compete and I can make strategies. After 2-0 down, I still had a lot of belief that I can make it. But I focussed on winning one game at one time.”

The higher ranked Japanese reckoned he could seal it in the decider, but Snehit snapped at his heels. “When score was 2-2, in the end I defended 6 or 7 match points. I was just constantly telling myself not to think about the score. Even I had 2 or 3 match points which I couldn’t convert. I was battling in my head, ‘Don’t think of the score, don’t think of the score,’ because whenever I was thinking of the score, I just needed 1 point to win the match, I was rushing my shots,’ he said. In the end the strawberry flick push would clean up the opponent.

Snehit has taken his time to get going on the international circuit but put in plenty of effort into the finer fitness aspects last year. He has the speed, but can get caught up in trying to rush rallies. Though the sentiment is perfect — he does not simply dawdle away — his execution falters.

Also reaching the Round of 16 were Manush Shah and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, though Harmeet Desai, Manav Thakkar and Ankur Bhattacharjee also exited.

In women’s singles, Nithya Mani was the only Indian to reach pre quarters, beating Aussie Minhyung Jee, seeded 14th, 10-12, 12-10, 8-11, 11-7, 11-7 in a rollercoaster.