WTT Star Contender Chennai | Harimoto wins a marathon final; Oh Junsung bags his maiden men’s title

Miwa Harimoto wins WTT Star Contender Chennai in longest final, Oh Jun-sung clinches men's title.

It was, perhaps, Miwa Harimoto’s longest final.

The 16-year-old Japanese had to battle it out for nearly 74 minutes against a relentless Honoka Hashimoto to emerge a 9-11, 11-3, 11-8, 11-9, 10-12, 11-7 winner in the WTT Star Contender Chennai at the Nehru Indoor Stadium here on Sunday.

Later, 18-year-old Oh Jun-sung clinched his maiden men’s title, defeating France’s Thibault Poret 9-11, 11-7, 11-3, 9-11, 6-11, 11-4, 11-7 in the summit clash.

Long rallies (minimum of 5-10) marked the women’s final. With Harimoto attacking and Hashimoto returning it from the back of the table with her chops and cuts, the match kept the audience on the edge of their seats. The longest rally in the match went on for 95 shots.

However, in the third game, at 10-7 with the rally going for 17 points – the umpire was forced to bring in the ‘Expedite rule’.

The rule comes into force if a game is played for 10 minutes with less than 18 points being played. And from the next point, each player gets one serve instead of the usual two. And the receiver is deemed to have won the point if he/she returned it successfully 13 times. The rule changed the dynamics of the contest with both going for the ‘kill’.

Harimoto, World No. 6, said: “I had to make the decision by the 13th shot (Expedite rule). So, I was a little impatient at times, but I [knew] I couldn’t win unless I attacked. Happy to win my first Star Contender title.”