WTT Star Contender Chennai 2026: Desai-Ghorpade finish runners-up in mixed doubles

India’s Harmeet Desai and Yashaswini Ghorpade finished runners-up in the mixed doubles event at the WTT Star Contender Chennai 2026 after going down to Romanian second seeds Eduard Ionescu and Bernadette Szocs in Sunday’s final.

The Indian fourth seeds lost 3-0 (11-9, 11-2, 11-8) in the title clash but recorded the best result by an Indian pair across four editions of the WTT Star Contender events held in the country. Desai and Ghorpade stayed competitive in the opening game before the Romanian combination took firm control to close out the contest in straight games.

Jancarik advances, all-Japanese women’s final set

In men’s singles, Czechia’s Lubomir Jancarik continued his strong run, edging past Korea Republic’s Park Ganghyeon in a five-game semifinal, 3-2 (13-15, 11-7, 5-11, 11-7, 11-9). Jancarik will face French fifth seed Thibault Poret in the final. Poret is aiming for a second title after having already secured the men’s doubles crown alongside Flavien Coton earlier in the tournament.

The women’s singles final will feature an all-Japanese matchup, with top seed Satsuki Odo set to take on 15th seed Miu Hirano.

With the mixed doubles silver, Desai and Ghorpade ensured a podium finish for the host nation in Chennai, closing India’s campaign on a positive note despite missing out on the title.