WTT Star Contender Chennai-2026 (10 - 15 February 2026)

[NextLevel]

Hirano and Poret. Just for fun.

pickin the young guns Odo and Coton to take this down

 

[joshmak10]

pickin the young guns Odo and Coton to take this down

I’ll say Park Ganghyeon and Hirano

 

[TampaBayTableTennis]

a lot of bragging rights on the line with these picks! the stakes are high!!!

 

[NextLevel]

a lot of bragging rights on the line with these picks! the stakes are high!!!

I should have taken Jancarik and Hirano then lol.

 

[TampaBayTableTennis]

I should have taken Jancarik and Hirano then lol.

it's not too late, but be careful. imagine switching away from the winning picks...

 

[NextLevel]

it's not too late, but be careful. imagine switching away from the winning picks...

I am open to losing, I just want a combo no one else has picked and people have started picking Hirano lol... so Cheng and Jancarik!

 

[NextLevel]

Odo gives a lecture on why there are no choppers on the JNT: Sato lost this match despite playing some amazing points.

 

[driversbeat]

no bets on Yokoi taking this? I'd love for Hirano to win but Yokoi appears to have the superior backhand that's more refined and economical even compared to Odo's.

 

[NextLevel]

no bets on Yokoi taking this? I'd love for Hirano to win but Yokoi appears to have the superior backhand that's more refined and economical even compared to Odo's.

I could have said Yokoi and Jancarik but I think @pongfugrasshopper picked Yokoi and I think Cheng I Ching and Jancarik fit the lost and found theme better.

 

[Janard]

no bets on Yokoi taking this? I'd love for Hirano to win but Yokoi appears to have the superior backhand that's more refined and economical even compared to Odo's.

Agree, if Hirano can take out Yokoi (their last encounter was a beatdown) then meeting Odo (not dismissing Cheng) in the finals would be much more manageable.

MS would go with Park, just to play mediator to the ongoing SKorea vs SEAbling spat

 

[NextLevel]

Agree, if Hirano can take out Yokoi (their last encounter was a beatdown) then meeting Odo (not dismissing Cheng) in the finals would be much more manageable.

MS would go with Park, just to play mediator to the ongoing SKorea vs SEAbling spat

I think the Hirano that got beat down by Yokoi in their last encounter could not have beaten Nagasaki. That's what I pinned my hat on initially.

 

[KiwiPong]

Meanwhile, Odo, is just too fast for CIC….

 

[pongfugrasshopper]

no bets on Yokoi taking this? I'd love for Hirano to win but Yokoi appears to have the superior backhand that's more refined and economical even compared to Odo's.

I picked Yokoi in post #40. Hurricane Hirano is playing well so it'll be an interesting match.

 

[KiwiPong]

I picked Yokoi in post #40. Hurricane Hirano is playing well so it'll be an interesting match.

Hirano is doing a vintage Ito, reading a small notebook on whatever it’s in there lol

 

[Janard]

I think the Hirano that got beat down by Yokoi in their last encounter could not have beaten Nagasaki. That's what I pinned my hat on initially.

You are right haha

 

[pongfugrasshopper]

Congrats to Miu. Sakura really needs to work on her push game.

 

[zeio]

WS SF
Yokoi (10) 1-3 Hirano (15) (-10, 8, -8, -9)
G1 33, 43, 44, 47, 57, 58, 98, 99, 109, 1010 net for Hirano, 1012
G2 33, 37, 47, 49, 89 TO for Yokoi, 811 dead net for Yokoi
G3 41, 42, 52, 53, 57, 67, 68, 88 big BH from Yokoi, 89 Yokoi missed the big FH, 811
G4 20, 22 big net for Hirano, 42 Hirano served off the table, 52, 53, 63, 68, 88, 89, 99, 911

Harimoto/Nagasaki/Kihara/Hirano (P-Athlete) for LA28, with Hirano serving as the secret weapon for the potential Ahmedabad 2036... LOL

Once again why league matches should not be taken seriously. Yokoi has defeated Hirano only in T.League a bunch of times, where Hirano has won only once in season 2024/2025. OTOH, when the stakes were high, Hirano beat Yokoi after being down 1-3 in R16 at Zennoh Cup Funabashi 2022 and then went on to beat Ito in QF, Shibata in SF and Hayata in F to put herself back in the WS race for Paris 2024. Ito is the only golden generation Yokoi has beaten at home (and a bunch of times at that).

An interesting 9-month ride to follow Hirano on finding joy in table tennis again after joining CTTSL 2025, from having lost her competitive sense at WTTC 2025 to being about the only thing left to get back at WTT SCT Doha 2026.

 

[zeio]

no bets on Yokoi taking this? I'd love for Hirano to win but Yokoi appears to have the superior backhand that's more refined and economical even compared to Odo's.

Well, what I wrote about Yokoi just 8 days ago, and also about Odo and Yokoi not lasting long playing like this back in 10/2024. It may not be obvious, but Odo has toned down her style a bit recently.

 

[NextLevel]

Lubo in the finals.... where has he been? I don't remember seeing him in Germany this year on Post SV...

 

[Janard]

Where's the Hirano we were expecting?