Table Tennis
WTT Star Contender Chennai 2026: Desai-Ghorpade enter mixed doubles final
Indian pair to face Romanian second seeds in title clash as Sathiyan G keeps men’s singles hopes alive.
Fourth seeds Harmeet Desai and Yashaswini Ghorpade progressed to the mixed doubles final, while Sathiyan G booked his place in the men’s singles quarterfinals at the WTT Star Contender Chennai 2026 on Saturday.
Desai and Ghorpade dominated the all-Indian mixed doubles semifinal, defeating wild card entrants Payas Jain and Syndrela Das 3-0 (11-9, 11-6, 11-9). The fourth-seeded duo controlled the tempo throughout and secured victory in straight games to move into the title round.
They will face Romanian second seeds Eduard Ionescu and Bernadette Szocs in the final. The Romanian pair advanced after their semifinal opponents, third seeds Oh Junsung and Miku Nagasaki, conceded while trailing 1-2.
Sathiyan stages comeback in singles
In men’s singles, Sathiyan kept India’s campaign alive with a comeback win over Eduard Ionescu. After falling behind 1-2 in games, the Indian rallied to claim the match 3-2 (9-11, 11-3, 10-12, 11-7, 11-5). He will next take on Czechia’s Lubomir Jancarik, who eliminated India’s Manush Shah in four games.
Sehit Suravajjula’s impressive run ended in the pre-quarterfinals after a 3-1 defeat to top seed Oh Junsung. The Korean later withdrew from his quarterfinal against France’s Thibault Poret due to injury sustained during the mixed doubles semifinals.
India’s challenge in women’s singles concluded as qualifier Nithya Mani lost 3-1 to fourth seed Cheng I-Ching of Chinese Taipei in the Round of 16.
With a mixed doubles final berth secured and Sathiyan still in contention in singles, India remains in the hunt for silverware at the Chennai leg of the WTT Star Contender series.