WTT Star Contender Chennai: Teens Harimoto, Jun-sung clinch singles titles

Teenagers Miwa Harimoto and Oh Jun-sung clinched the women’s and men’s singles titles, respectively, at the WTT Star Contender event at the Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai on Sunday.

Second seed Harimoto took down 13th seed Honoka Hashimoto 4-2 (9-11, 11-3, 11-8, 11-9, 10-12, 11-7) in an all-Japanese summit clash to clinch the fourth and the biggest title of her young career.

Twelfth seed Oh Jun-sung from Korea bagged his maiden title on the senior circuit with a come-from-behind 4-3 (9-11, 11-7, 11-3, 9-11, 6-11, 11-4, 11-7) victory over unseeded Frenchman Thibault Poret.

The 74-minute contest between World No. 6 Harimoto and World No. 30 Hashimoto was a battle of contrasting styles. Harimoto’s well-rounded game had to go past the sturdy defence of Hashimoto, something which top seed and compatriot Hina Hayata could not do in the round of 16.

The 26-year-old Hashimoto, a chopper, engaged Harimoto in long and tiring rallies from the beginning with the second and fourth points lasting 55 and 50 shots, respectively. She managed to edge Harimoto, 10 years her junior, in the opener.

However, Harimoto raced to an 8-2 lead in the second and sealed it comfortably.

Harimoto then came out on top in a 95-shot exchange, the longest of the tournament, with a forehand down the centre of the table and straight into Hashimoto’s body to make it 7-7 in the third. She took her streak to five points by winning a 33-shot rally at 9-7.

At this moment, the match saw the rare implementation of the ‘Expedite System,’ which speeds up play when a game extends beyond 10 minutes with fewer than 18 points played. Under this rule, the receiver wins a point if they return 13 consecutive shots, forcing both players to adjust mid-rally.

When this rule came into effect, both players had to change their tactics mid-rally with the umpire counting the number of shots played out loud. “I had to make the decision by the 13th return, so I was a little impatient at times but I couldn’t win unless I attacked,” said Harimoto after the match.

Harimoto was the beneficiary of the 13-shot rule during the fifth point of the fifth game. It also gave her three match points as Hashimoto, serving at 7-9 in the sixth, desperately went for a forehand drive down the line and sent it long after Harimoto had made 12 returns.

Harimoto converted her first championship point when Hashimoto netted a backhand chop.

In the men’s final, World No. 36 Jun-sung was the favourite compared to the 20-year-old Poret, a player ranked 18 places below him. However, the Frenchman’s mid-match surge almost took the title away from him when he trailed two games to three.

Jun-sung, a bronze medallist at last year’s Asian Championships, managed to find his way back to level things up and took it to the decider.

He took a commanding 5-0 lead in the final game and converted his third championship point to finish the job.

Jun-sung is the son of former Top 10 player and two-time Olympic bronze medallist (men’s team) Oh Sang-eun. He mentioned the impact of his father on his game and credited him for his biggest achievement so far.

“From the very beginning, my father has been like my teacher and also, my coach. I have learned a lot under his guidance,” said the 18-year-old.