India, Oct. 9 -- Unheralded Indian Tharun Mannepalli kept alive the country's men's singles hopes at the Arctic Open 2025, staging a thrilling comeback to upset world Number 14 Toma Junior Popov of France, even as Lakshya Sen suffered his 10th first-round exit of the year on Wednesday. Mannepalli, ranked 46th, overcame a first-game loss to beat Popov 11-21, 21-11, 22-20 in a one-hour and eight-minute contest, saving four match points in the decider to pull off a remarkable win in the BWF Super 500 event. He will take on world Number 18 Koki Watanabe of Japan in the pre-quarterfinals. Paris Olympics semifinalist Lakshya fell 21-15, 21-17 in 57 minutes to world Number 11 and fifth seed Kodai Naraoka of Japan.

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