In a rollercoaster of emotions at the WTT Star Contender Chennai 2026, India’s Harmeet Desai and Yashaswini Ghorpade powered into the mixed doubles final with a flawless 3-0 (11-9, 11-6, 11-9) demolition of compatriots Payas Jain and Sindhuja Das in the semifinals. Hosted at the Tamil Nadu Physical Education and Sports University, the fourth seeds now eye glory against Romania’s formidable Eduard Ionescu and Bernadette Szocs.
G. Sathiyan stole the spotlight in men’s singles, staging a heroic comeback against the same Romanian Ionescu. Trailing 1-2, the 10th seed roared back to win 3-2 (9-11, 11-3, 10-12, 11-7, 11-5), booking a quarterfinal date with Lubomir Jancharik. The Czech player had earlier prevailed over Manush Shah 3-1 (11-4, 13-11, 5-11, 13-11).
Sathiyan’s path featured a solid 3-1 triumph over Korea’s Lim Jong-hoon, while Manush Shah swept Park Gyu-hyun 3-0. Snehit Suravajjula fought valiantly but fell 3-1 to Korea’s top seed Oh Jun-seung, who later withdrew from his quarterfinal against Thibault Poret due to injury sustained in mixed doubles.
Women’s singles saw Nithya Mani, ranked 481st globally, pull off a miracle on Friday against Mizuki Oikawa, overcoming a 0-2 hole in a 52-minute epic 3-2 win. Her momentum fizzled against Cheng I-ching, losing 3-1 in the pre-quarters. With mixed doubles final and men’s quarters featuring Indians, the Chennai event underscores India’s rising table tennis stature on the world stage.