Table Tennis
WTT Star Contender Chennai 2025: Ayhika-Ankur duo battle into main draw
Singles’ top seeds Niagol, Divyanshi seal main draw spots after comfortable wins.
The dynamic duo of Ayhika and Ankur in action. (Photo credit: WTT)
Pairing up for Mixed Doubles, Asian Games medallist Ayhika Mukherjee and reigning three-time National Youth Champion Ankur Bhattacharjee sealed their place in the main draw of the WTT Star Contender Chennai 2025 Presented By IndianOil, overcoming Anirban Ghosh and Swastika Ghosh in a thrilling five-game battle on Wednesday, Day 2 of Qualifying.
Twice rallying from a game down, Ayhika and Ankur fought back with the former’s sharp defense and the latter’s blistering forehand winners, sealing victory in a tense decider. Ankur later teamed up with Payas Jain in Men’s Doubles Qualifying, stunning top seeds John Oyebode and Carlo Rossi of Italy 3-1 in the day’s biggest upset.
WTT Star Contender Chennai 2025 Presented By IndianOil is organised by Stupa Sports Analytics and Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) under the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI).
The event boasts 600 ranking points for winners and a USD 275,000 prize purse, with top global paddlers in action.
Anirban Ghosh celebrating his victory against a perfectly placed Shot. (Photo credit: UTT)
Elsewhere, South Korea’s Shin Yubin, a two-time Olympic medallist, and Ryu Hanna stormed into the main draw after a dominant victory in their Women’s Doubles clash against India’s Diya Brahmachary and Anjali Rohilla, while the Chinese Taipei duo of Huang Yi-Hua and Huang Yi-Jie proved too strong for Nashik pair Taneesha Kotecha and Sayali Wani, securing a straight-games win.
Tamil Nadu’s top two men’s players, Abhinandh Pradhivadhi and Preyesh Suresh, paired up and delivered a masterclass on Day 2 of Qualifying, cruising past the USA’s Tanish Pendse and Armaan Dalamal in straight games. In Mixed Doubles, top-seeded Wildcard pair Akash Pal and Poymantee Baisya also advanced comfortably with a commanding 3-0 win over Sarth Mishra and Sayali Wani.
In Men’s Singles, top-seeded Niagol Stoyanov of Italy and Hong Kong’s Ho Kwan Kit asserted their dominance in Qualifying with straight-game victories over Priyanuj Bhattacharya and Agniv Gohain, respectively. In the Women’s draw, Divyanshi Bhowmick and Poymantee Baisya, both Wildcards, battled through tough four-game encounters to advance, overcoming Nikhat Banu and Nandini Saha in hard-fought matches.
WTT Star Contender 2025 Presented By IndianOil will commence with the Main Draw on Thursday across all five categories. Meanwhile, action across all four tables will be streamed live on SonyLiv and WTT’s official YouTube channel.
Select Results Highlights - Qualifying, Day 2
Men’s Singles (Round 3)
Anirban Ghosh (IND) [11] Vs. Carlo Rossi (ITA) [7] 3-0: 14-12, 11-7, 12-10
Niagol Stoyanov (ITA) [1] [WC] Vs. Priyanuj Bhattacharya (IND) 3-0: 11-6, 11-2, 11-6
Ho Kwan Kit (HKG) [2] Vs. Agniv Gohain (IND) 3-0: 11-9, 11-6, 11-8
Women’s Singles (Round 3)
Divyanshi Bhowmick (IND) [1] [WC] Vs. Nikhat Banu (IND) 3-1: 8-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-4
Poymantee Baisya (IND) [3] [WC] Vs. Nandini Saha (IND) 3-1: 12-10, 9-11, 11-6, 13-11
Men’s Doubles (Round 1)
Ankur Bhattacharjee (IND)/Payas Jain (IND) Vs. John Oyebode (ITA)/Carlo Rossi (ITA) [1] 3-1: 12-10, 11-2, 14-16, 11-6
Abhinandh Pradhivadhi (IND)/Preyesh Suresh (IND) Vs. Tanish Pendse (USA)/Armaan Dalamal (USA) 3-0: 11-3, 11-4, 11-4
Women’s Doubles (Round 1)
Shin Yubin (KOR)/Ryu Hanna (KOR) Vs. Diya Brahmachary (IND)/Anjali Rohilla (IND) 3-0: 11-3, 11-1, 11-5
Huang Yi-Hua (TPE)/Huang Yi-Jie (TPE) Vs. Taneesha Kotecha (IND)/Sayali Wani (IND) 3-0: 11-4, 11-2, 11-5
Mixed Doubles (Round 1)
Akash Pal (IND)/Poymantee Baisya (IND) [1] [WC] Vs. Sarth Mishra (IND)/Sayali Wani (IND) 3-0: 11-7, 11-6, 11-9
Ankur Bhattacharjee (IND)/Ayhika Mukherjee (IND) Vs. Anirban Ghosh (IND)/Swastika Ghosh (IND) 3-2: 1-11, 11-5, 9-11, 11-7, 11-8
Chan Baldwin (HKG)/Zhu Chengzhu (HKG) Vs. Finn Luu (AUS)/Minhyung Jee (AUS) [2] 3-1: 11-5, 11-8, 7-11, 11-7
