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Teen Stars Tanishka, Naisha Shine at WTT Chennai Qualifiers

Young Indian table tennis players Tanishka Kalbhairav and Naisha Rewaskar scored impressive victories to reach the final qualifying round of the WTT Star Contender Chennai 2026. Tanishka, aged 13, defeated the experienced Maria Rony, while Naisha secured a straight-games win over Palak Ghia. In other matches, Gungun Sahu caused an upset, and Umesh Kumar advanced in the men's singles. The qualifying rounds continue with key matches featuring Ankur Bhattacharjee and Shivjit Lamba.

Key Points: WTT Star Contender: Indian Teens Impress in Qualifying Rounds

  • Teen stars advance in qualifiers
  • Upsets mark early rounds
  • Enhanced $300k prize purse
  • Indian players dominate early matches
2 min read

WTT Star Contender: Tanishka Kalbhairav, Naisha Rewaskar impress in qualifying rounds

Young table tennis talents Tanishka Kalbhairav and Naisha Rewaskar secure wins to reach the final qualifying round at WTT Star Contender Chennai 2026.

"The 13-year-old Tanishka upset the experienced Maria Rony 3-1 - Match Report"

Chennai, Feb 10

Young table tennis stars Tanishka Kalbhairav and Naisha Rewaskar registered convincing victories in their respective women's singles matches to reach the final qualifying round of the World Table Tennis Star Contender Chennai 2026, which kicked off at the Tamil Nadu Physical Education and Sports University in Chennai on Tuesday.

The 13-year-old Tanishka upset the experienced Maria Rony 3-1 (11-2, 8-11, 11-7, 11-4) in the second qualifying round while Naisha, who trains at the NSCI-UTT Academy in Mumbai, defeated wildcard entrant Palak Ghia 3-0 (11-3, 11-8, 11-6) to advance to the final qualifying round of the second edition of the WTT Star Contender Chennai, which boasts of an enhanced prize purse of USD 300,000.

Earlier, Gungun Sahu upset a much higher-ranked Hardee Patel 3-1 (12-10, 8-11, 11-9, 12-10) to move to the final round of qualifying.

In the men's singles category, India's Umesh Kumar fought back from a game down to pack off Nepal's Rajiv Chikanbanjar 3-1 (6-11, 11-3, 11-5, 11-8) to reach the third qualifying round.

Also advancing to the final qualifying round were wildcard entrants Punit Biswas and Balamurgan Rajasekaran. Biswas defeated compatriot Arjav Gupta 3-1 (11-7, 11-6, 9-11, 11-8) while Balamurgan beat Neil Mulye 3-0 (11-5, 13-11, 11-9) in the second qualifying round.

The second round of qualifying will continue on Wednesday morning with the top-ranked men's singles player in the qualifying draw, Ankur Bhattacharjee, taking on the Korea Republic's Oh Seunghwan, who defeated Rajesh Ramanathan 11-5, 11-4, 11-4 in the first qualifying round.

The other interesting match-ups include wild card Shivjit Lamba taking on Italy's Carlo Rossi in the men's singles second qualifying round.

- IANS

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Reader Comments

A
Aditya G
Great to see a major tournament back in Chennai! The prize money of $300,000 shows how much the sport is growing. Hope this inspires more kids to pick up a paddle.
R
Rohit P
Good performances all around. But I hope the coverage improves. It's hard to find live streams for these qualifying rounds. The federation should make it more accessible for fans.
S
Sarah B
Impressive win by Gungun Sahu over a higher-ranked opponent! That 12-10 score in the final game must have been nerve-wracking. The depth in women's singles is looking good.
K
Karthik V
The mix of young stars and experienced players is exciting. All the best to Ankur Bhattacharjee for his match against the Korean player tomorrow. Tough draw, but he can do it!
M
Meera T
Naisha Rewaskar from the Mumbai academy winning 3-0 is superb. Shows the importance of good training facilities. We need more academies like NSCI-UTT across the country.

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