WTT Star Contender in Chennai: Teens Miwa Harimoto, Oh Junsung crowned champions

It was a memorable day for two teenagers – Miwa Harimoto of Japan and South Korea’s Oh Junsung as they clinched their maiden WTT Star Contender titles in marathon finals in Chennai on Sunday (March 30) at Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium.

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First, 16-year-old rising table tennis star and second seed Miwa won the women’s singles trophy while the men’s singles crown was clinched by 18-year-old Junsung, who prevailed over Thibault Poret in a thrilling final that went to the decider. High-quality table tennis was on display in both summit clashes.

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South Korea’s Lim Jonghoon and Shin Yubin won the mixed doubles trophy by beating Maharu Yoshimura and Satsuki Odo of Japan 3-0 (11-8, 11-5, 11-4) in the final.

Double for Miwa

Junsung, the 12th seed and World No. 36 won 4-3 (9-11, 11-7, 11-3, 9-11, 6-11, 11-4, 11-7) in 53 minutes.

In a keenly contested women’s singles title clash, Miwa, the World No. 6, edged compatriot Honoka Hashimoto 4-2 (9-11, 11-3, 11-8, 11-9, 10-12, 11-7) in one hour and 13 minutes. Miwa, who will turn 17 in June, bounced back from a game down to surge to a 3-1 lead.

However, Honoka was not in the mood to give up easily. She fought hard to take the closely contested fourth game 12-10. Second-seeded Miwa, who was part of the silver medal-winning women’s team at the Paris Olympics 2024, did not allow her opponent to come back and sealed the sixth game 11-7 to clinch her maiden singles WTT Star Contender trophy.

Miwa has been making waves in table tennis. She is the younger sister of World No. 3 Tomokazu Harimoto, who lost in the Round of 16 in men’s singles in Chennai. Their Chinese parents – father Yuu Harimoto and mother Zhang Ling were professional table tennis.

3 WTT titles

Last year, apart from the Paris Olympics team silver, Miwa was also with the Japanese women’s team that won the title at the Asian championships in Astana. It was a historic win for Japan against China as it was the country’s first gold in 50 years.

It was a memorable WTT Star Contender 2025 for Miwa as she clinched two titles, having won the women’s doubles on Saturday. Miwa teamed up with Miyuu Kihara to defeat South Korean pair Shin Yubin and Ryu Hanna 3-2 (9-11, 11-9, 13-11, 12-14, 11-5) in the final.

Overall, Miwa now has three WTT singles titles after wins in WTT Contender Tunis 2023 and WTT Contender Tunis 2024.

WTT Star Contender Chennai 2025 had 600 ranking points for winners and a $275,000 total prize money, and witnessed top global paddlers in action.