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Vatsal Duklan, Hansini Mathan Stun Top Seeds at WTT Youth Contenders 2026

Vatsal Duklan and Hansini Mathan delivered the day's biggest shocks at the WTT Youth Contenders 2026 in Vadodara, both defeating the top seeds in their respective U-17 singles draws. Duklan overcame Ritvik Gupta in a four-game thriller, while Mathan fought back from a deficit to dethrone defending champion Divyanshi Bhowmick. The upsets continued as boys' second seed Aditya Das was also eliminated in an earlier round. The tournament, featuring various age categories, saw other favorites like Japan's Miku Matsushima advance comfortably to the quarterfinals.

Key Points: Upsets at WTT Youth Contenders: Duklan, Mathan Beat Top Seeds

  • Vatsal Duklan upsets U-17 top seed
  • Hansini Mathan beats defending champion
  • Aditya Das knocked out early
  • Japanese favorite Miku Matsushima advances
2 min read

WTT Youth Contenders 2026: Vatsal Duklan, Hansini Mathan upset top seeds to reach quarterfinals

Vatsal Duklan & Hansini Mathan caused major upsets, defeating the top seeds to reach the U-17 quarterfinals at the WTT Youth Contenders in Vadodara.

"Duklan upset top seed Ritvik Gupta 4-11, 11-5, 11-7, 18-16 in a thrilling boys' singles pre-quarterfinal. - WTT Press Release"

Vadodara, January 2

Vatsal Duklan and Hansini Mathan created the biggest upsets of the day as they packed off boys' U-17 and girls U-17 top seeds respectively, to reach the quarter-finals of the World Table Tennis Youth Contenders 2026 at the SAMA Indoor Stadium here on Friday.

Duklan upset top seed Ritvik Gupta 4-11, 11-5, 11-7, 18-16 in a thrilling boys' singles pre-quarterfinal before Hansini overturned a 1-2 deficit to pack off defending champion Divyanshi Bhowmick 5-11, 11-9, 9-11, 11-7, 11-4 in girls singles round of 16, as per a WTT press release.

The second seed in boys' U-17 singles, Aditya Das, was also knocked out in the second round by Sohum Mukherjee, who then got the better of Rushikesh Jagtap 8-11, 11-5, 11-9, 10-12, 11-7 in the Round of 16.

Local hope Ved Panchal reached the pre-quarterfinal stage, where he bowed out after losing 11-3, 11-4, 11-3 against Sahil Rawat.

The second edition of the WTT Youth Contender in India kicked off today with the U-13 and U-17 boys and girls singles competitions and will be followed by U-11, U-15 and U-19 competitions.

There were no such hiccups for the other favourites in the girls' U-17 section as second seed Miku Matsushima of Japan and Syndrela Das of India eased through to the quarterfinals. In the Round of 16, Miku defeated Sukrati Sharma of India 11-7, 11-2, 11-6, while Syndrela beat Indira Sen 11-6, 11-6, 9-11, 11-6 to advance.

Also reaching the last eight stage were upcoming paddlers Naisha Rewaskar and Tanishka Kalbhairav. Naisha packed off Arohi Roy 11-5, 11-3, 11-7 while Tanishka fought back from a game down to beat Ankolika Chakraborty 5-11, 11-8, 11-9, 12-10. They will now face each other for a spot in the semi-finals.

- ANI

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Reader Comments

S
Sarah B
That scoreline for Duklan's match - 18-16 in the fourth game! Must have been an absolute nail-biter. Great to see such competitive spirit in the youth.
P
Priya S
Hansini's comeback from 1-2 down against the defending champion shows real mental strength. Bas, this is how champions are made! More power to our young paddlers.
V
Vikram M
Good to see WTT events happening in India. Vadodara is a great sports hub. But I hope the coverage improves - we only get a press release summary. Would love to watch these matches live!
R
Rohit P
So many promising names from across the country. Vatsal, Hansini, Sohum, Naisha, Tanishka... the pipeline is strong. Hope they get the right support and don't fade away.
M
Michael C
Interesting to see a Japanese player, Miku Matsushima, as the second seed here. Good exposure for our players to compete against international talent early in their careers.

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