Chennai all set for table tennis extravaganza as WTT Youth Contender and WTT Feeder Series attract 334 players from 13 countries

Chennai, October 21: Chennai's reputation as a major table tennis destination will receive a further boost as the Tamil Nadu Physical Education and Sports University here is all set to host the WTT Youth Contender Chennai 2026 followed by the WTT Feeder Chennai 2026, presented by the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu (SDAT), from October 23 to November 1.

The WTT Youth Contender (U11–U19 categories) will take place from October 23–26, followed by the WTT Feeder Series from October 28 to November 1. The tournaments will feature 210 players in the Youth Contender and 124 players in the Feeder Series from 13 countries, including more than 36 players from Tamil Nadu.

This will be the third WTT event in Chennai in the span of 19 months, after the WTT Star Contender Chennai in March 2025 and February 2026, reflecting the trust in the city's organising capabilities and world-class infrastructure. The tournament is also SDAT's first major international event since the new State Government took office and marks the start of SDAT's journey towards its ‘Dream Olympics 2036” vision.

The Youth Contender will kick off with the U-13 and U-17 singles on October 23 and 24, and competition for the U-11, U-15 and U-19 categories will be held on October 25 and 26, with the U-15 and U-19 categories also featuring mixed doubles. In the Feeder Series, the qualifying rounds will be held on October 28 and 29, followed by the knockouts on October 30 and 31 and the finals on November 1.

With the ITTF World Youth Championships in Istanbul (November 21–28) around the corner, the Youth Contender will serve as ideal preparation for India's top juniors.

Local favourite Abhinandh Pradhivadhi, who won the U-19 boys' singles and mixed doubles titles at the WTT Youth Contender in Sandefjord, Norway, and the U-19 mixed doubles gold at the WTT Youth Star Contender in Doha this year, will lead the Indian challenge in the U-19 boys' section along with Priyanuj Bhattacharyya, who won the U-19 boys' title in Vadodara in January. Both were part of the Indian team that won silver in the U-19 boys' team event at the 2025 World Youth Championships.

Divyanshi Bhowmick, who created history by winning the U-15 girls' singles gold at the 2025 Asian Youth Championships, will be in action in the U-19 girls' section. She will face a stiff challenge from Tamil Nadu's Hansini Mathanraj, who won the U-19 girls' singles title in Sandefjord and had beaten Divyanshi in Vadodara in January, and Ananya Muralidharan, who won the U-17 girls' title at the National Ranking Championships in Panchkula earlier this month.

Sarthak Arya, Kavya Bhatt, Naisha Rewaskar, Ritvik Gupta and Satya Aspathi of the USA are among the other notable players who will be in action across categories.

In the WTT Feeder Series, World No. 48 Manav Thakkar, the top seed, will spearhead the Indian challenge in men's singles. The reigning national champion, who along with Manush Shah achieved a world No. 2 ranking in men's doubles, the highest ever by an Indian pair, will be joined by the experienced Harmeet Desai, Commonwealth Championships gold medallist Ankur Bhattacharjee, Payas Jain and Snehit Suravajjula.

All eyes will also be on local star Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, the two-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist and Tokyo Olympian, who will be looking to make the most of the home support.

Diya Chitale, who along with Manush Shah won the mixed doubles bronze at the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya last month, will lead the Indian challenge in women's singles. She will be joined by World No. 76 Yashaswini Ghorpade, the reigning national champion and Commonwealth Championships gold medallist, along with the experienced Sutirtha Mukherjee and Taneesha Kotecha.

The Indian women will face a stiff challenge from the likes of World No. 59 Sachi Aoki of Japan, who won the women's doubles title at the WTT Star Contender Chennai in February, and World No. 60 Yang Ha Eun of the Korea Republic, a former world No. 11 and 2015 World Championships mixed doubles gold medallist. Korea Republic's Kwon Hyuk, who won the WTT Feeder Berlin title in August, will be the one to watch in the men's section.

WTT Feeder Wildcards: 

Men's Singles: V Nitin Thiruvengadam (IND) & Mihai Bobocica (ITA)

Women's Singles: Yoo Yerin (KOR), Neha Kumari (IND), Shriya Anand (IND)

Men's Doubles: Sudhanshu Maini (IND) / Kumar Harshit (IND)

Mixed Doubles: Yashini Sivasankar (IND) / Suresh Raj Preyesh (IND) & Ankur Bhattacharjee (IND) / Sampada Bhiwandkar (IND)