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Table tennis: Manav Thakkar’s fine run ends in semifinals at the WTT Star Contender Chennai

In the quarterfinals on Saturday, Manav had registered a stunning win to claw back from the jaws of defeat

Manav Thakkar is in action. (WTT)

Manav Thakkar’s memorable performance at the WTT Star Contender Chennai 2025 ended with a hard-fought 3-1 semifinal loss against World No. 54 Thibault Poret on Sunday. The 24-year-old lost 12-10, 11-9, 7-11, 11-7 against his French opponent.

Having become the first Indian male player to reach the semifinal stages of a WTT Star Contender event just a day earlier, Manav delivered a spirited performance at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium, pushing the 20-year-old Frenchman in a thrilling, high-intensity contest. Despite narrowly missing out in the first two games, Manav rallied to claim the third, igniting the home crowd. Poret’s exceptional defensive display throughout ultimately proved decisive.

In the quarterfinals on Saturday, Manav had registered a stunning win to claw back from the jaws of defeat. Up against 16th seed Lim Jong-hoon from Korea, Manav prevailed 5-11, 12-10, 3-11, 11-6, 11-1. At one stage, he was trailing by 2 games to 1, and down 2-6 in the fourth. He went on to win 9 straight points first to close out the fourth game, and then won a further 9 straight points (18 consecutive) at the start of the decider, to eventually prevail in a thriller. In the previous round, Manav beat Germany’s Andre Bertelsmeier 10-12, 12-10, 15-13, 6-11, 11-5

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Beyond registering some solid results, Manav raked in 210 significant WTT ranking points and a purse of USD 4,000.

Manav was the last standing Indian paddler at the event. Also on Saturday, Sharath Kamal Achanta bid farewell to international table tennis after a decorated career representing India at the biggest of events.

Later, 18-year-old Oh Jun-sung defeated Poret in a seven-game thriller in the men’s singles final. In Women’s Singles, 16-year-old Miwa Harimoto, an Olympic medallist in Paris 2024, defeated her compatriot Honoka Hashimoto 4-2 to win her first crown at this level.