Indian Wild Cards Shine for WTT Star Contender Chennai 2026

All the four host wild cards in the women's singles category went to Indian paddlers with up and coming paddlers Anusha Kutumbale, Sayali Wani, Kavya Bhatt and Taneesha Kotecha getting the nod while Anirban Ghosh and Divyansh Srivastava joining Priyanuj in the main draw, while Frenchman Remi Betelu is the fourth host wild card entrant in men's singles.

The second edition of the WTT Star Contender Chennai will feature an enhanced prize purse of USD 300,000 with Indian table tennis legend Achanta Sharath Kamal serving as the Event Director, having retired from professional table tennis at this very event last year.

The talented Abhinandh Pradhivadhi, part of the historic bronze medal winning trio at the ITTF World Youth Championship team events has been given the WTT Youth wild card in men's singles while 2025 Asian Youth Champion Divyanshi Bhowmick getting the Youth wild card in women's singles.

Commenting on the wild cards, Event Director Sharath Kamal said, "The idea of wild cards in such major tournaments is to provide up and coming talent an opportunity to test themselves against some of the world's best players and I am confident that the Indian players will showcase their skills on home turf. I am very happy to see that many young players have received a wild card this year and I am confident that the opportunity to play here will help them rise on the international stage."

Indian challenge in men's singles will be led by last edition semi-finalist and world number 33 Manav Thakkar with the likes of WTT Feeder Series Vadodara 2026 winner Manush Shah, the experienced G Sathiyan and Harmeet Desai also making it to the main draw.

Manush Shah and national champion Diya Chitale, who became the first Indian pair to qualify for the WTT Finals qualifiers, had received a wild card in the singles category last year and will now be playing in the main draw as a direct entrant.

WTT Feeder Vadodara 2026 runners-up Mudit Dani along with Anirban Ghosh have been given a wild card in men's doubles along with the Swedish combination of Kristian Karlsson and Elias Ranefur.

WTT Feeder Vadodara 2026 winners duo of Syndrela Das & Payas Jain has got a wild card in mixed doubles, while the women's doubles wild card went to Swastika Ghosh of India and Sarah De Nutte of Luxembourg.

WTT Feeder Vadodara 2026 winner Ryu Hanna of Republic of Korea and Japan's Kotomi Omoda are the two foreign players to get a women's singles wild card via WTT Nomination. Korea's Kang Dongsoo and France's Esteban Dorr received WTT nomination in men's singles.

- IANS