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Rising Stars Shine: Vatsal Duklan, Hansini Mathan Stun Top Seeds at WTT Youth Contenders

Vatsal Duklan and Hansini Mathan engineered major upsets in the U-17 singles, defeating the top seed and defending champion respectively to reach the quarterfinals. The boys' draw saw further surprises as second seed Aditya Das was eliminated in an earlier round. In the girls' event, favorites like Japan's Miku Matsushima and India's Syndrela Das progressed comfortably to the last eight. The tournament in Vadodara features multiple age categories, with the U-11, U-15, and U-19 competitions still to come.

Key Points: WTT Youth Contenders 2026: Upsets in U-17 Quarterfinals

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

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

Vatsal Duklan & Hansini Mathan upset top seeds to reach WTT Youth Contenders quarterfinals in Vadodara. Get results & highlights from the U-17 events.

"Duklan upset top seed Ritvik Gupta 4-11, 11-5, 11-7, 18-16 in a thrilling boy's singles pre-quarterfinal. - Event Report"

Vadodara, Jan 2

Vatsal Duklan and Hansini Mathan caused the biggest upsets of the day as they packed off boys' U-17 and girls' U-17 top seeds respectively to reach the quarterfinals of the WTT Youth Contenders 2026 at the SAMA Indoor Stadium in Vadodara on Friday.

Duklan upset top seed Ritvik Gupta 4-11, 11-5, 11-7, 18-16 in a thrilling boy's 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.

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 on Friday 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.

Earlier, defending champion Divyanshi Bhowmik, Syndrela Das, Japan's Miku Matsushima, and rising star Tanishka Kalbhairav kicked off their U-17 girls' singles campaign with comfortable wins in the group stage on Friday.

Divyanshi, who had won both the U-15 and U-17 girls singles titles last year, opened her campaign by blanking compatriot Neeza Kamat 11-4, 11-1, 11-2 in the Group 1 opener, while Syndrela defeated Tania Karmakar 11-6, 11-6, 11-2 in Group 3.

Japan's Matsushima took big strides towards the knockout stage with 11-3, 11-4, 11-2 wins over Swara Karmakar and then defeated Anvi Gupte 11-6, 11-3, 11-8 in Group 2.

- IANS

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Reader Comments

S
Sarah B
As a sports fan visiting from the US, it's great to see such competitive youth tournaments in India. The depth of talent is impressive. Good luck to all the quarterfinalists!
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Priya S
Hansini's comeback from 1-2 down against the defending champion is the stuff of legends! So proud of our young athletes. Hope they get the support and coaching they need to shine on the world stage.
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Rohit P
Great performances, but a bit disappointed for the local boy Ved Panchal. Hope he learns from this experience. The tournament structure with all age groups is excellent for long-term player development.
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Ananya R
So many promising names! Naisha, Tanishka, Sohum... the pipeline is strong. We need more coverage of these events. When will DD Sports or Sony start broadcasting the quarterfinals live?
D
David E
The Japanese player Miku Matsushima seems like a serious contender. Good to have international competition here – it raises the level for everyone. Well done to the organizers in Vadodara.

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