The recently crowned WTT Contender Muscat champions dug deep, saving three match points en route to a 3-2 (10-12, 11-6, 12-10, 5-11, 12-10) triumph in 42 minutes. The co-hosted event by Ultimate Table Tennis and Sharath Kamal Academy lived up to its billing as a high-stakes battleground.

Their next challenge comes from wildcard entrants Payas Jain and Sindrelia Das, who cruised past Kazakhstan’s Iskender Kharki and Sarvinoz Mirkadirova 3-0 (11-8, 11-6, 11-7).

Qualifier Ankur Bhattacharjee continued his fine form, eliminating France’s Florian Bourasod 3-1 (11-5, 11-8, 3-11, 11-9), and now faces Japan’s Kazuhiro Yoshimura.

With Swastika Ghosh, Ankur edged out Koreans Park Gyuhyeon and Kim Na-young 3-2 (11-9, 3-11, 11-8, 6-11, 11-9) for a quarterfinal date against top seeds Harmeet Desai and Yashaswini Ghorpade, who blanked Romania’s Darius Movileanu and Andrea Dragoman 3-0 (11-8, 11-4, 11-7).

Snehit Suravajjula mounted a stunning recovery against Divyansh Srivastava, winning 3-2 (9-11, 11-8, 6-11, 11-7, 11-6) to meet Mizuki Oikawa next. Harmeet Desai ousted Iulian Chirita 3-1 (11-8, 12-10, 9-11, 11-8).

Women’s singles saw young Divyanshi Bhoumik give Korea’s Ryu Hanna a scare before losing 3-1 (6-11, 11-6, 11-8, 11-5), while Diya Chitale dispatched Anusha Kutumbale 3-0 (11-8, 12-10, 11-8).

As the tournament progresses, India’s contingent is primed for deeper runs, fueling national hopes for podium glory.