WTT Star Contender Goa to be held from January 23, 2024

The second edition of India's biggest table tennis tournament, the WTT Star Contender will be held in Goa from January 23 to 28 next year.

World Table Tennis (WTT), conceptualized by the International Table Tennis Federation in 2019, serves as the epicenter for professional men's and women's table tennis events globally.

The high-profile tournament is part of the six-star Contender series events where only the top 30 players are eligible to participate, with six players from the top 20 in the world rankings. The tournament boasts a massive prize pool of $250,000 and allows players to win ranking points and qualify for the WTT Cup Finals and WTT Champions Series.

The series encompasses a multitude of events throughout the year, with the four Grand Smashes standing out as the highest-ranked tournaments.

"Playing against world-class players or watching them from close quarters always inspires the younger generation. This tournament is a great opportunity for our Indian players," Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) secretary-general Kamlesh Mehta said in a release.

The first edition of the WTT Star Contender Goa took place earlier this year and had some of the world's biggest stars on the show, including world No. 1 Fan Zhendong, Japanese prodigy Tomokazu Harimoto, world No. 4 Wang Yidi, and World No. 5 Hina Hayata.

Besides, the tournament also saw the participation of 40 Indian players, which was the highest for a WTT event. China's Liang Jingkun and Yidi had won the men's and women's singles titles respectively in the inaugural edition of the tournament.

The tournament will be co-hosted by Stupa Sports Analytics and Ultimate Table Tennis under the guidance of TTFI.