CHENNAI: Asian Games and Commonwealth Games medallist Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and the top mixed doubles pair of Manush Shah and Diya Chitale will be among the Indian stars to compete in the WTT Star Contender Chennai 2026 beginning here from Tuesday.
Over 80 players from over 15 countries will compete in the main draw across five categories -- Men's Singles, Women's Singles, Men's Doubles, Women's Doubles, and Mixed Doubles.

Manav Thakkar and Manush Shah are the top-seeded men's duo, while Shah and Diya Chitale -- India's history makers with title win at the WTT Contender Muscat 2026 -- will start as top seeds in the mixed doubles.

India will also have three players -- Thakkar, Shah and Gnanasekaran -- among the top 16 men's singles players, a clear sign of progress from last year, where none of the Indians were seeded in the singles' draw.
Seeded 10th in the men's singles draw, Gnanasekaran said the Indian contingent is a "genuine threat" to the world's best players in the tournament.

"I'm extremely happy to see the progress Indian table tennis has made over the last few years. The growth has been exponential across all categories, from juniors to seniors. Many Indian players have broken into the top 100, and we are now a genuine threat to the world's best," he said at the pre-event press conference.

"Hosting UTT and WTT events in India, including feeder tournaments, Star Contenders, and Youth Contenders, has provided invaluable exposure. You can clearly see the impact, with Indians becoming regulars on the WTT circuit and improving consistently."

Chitale and Shah arrive in Chennai on the back of a landmark run at the WTT Contender Muscat 2026, where the Indian pair stunned heavyweight China's fourth seeds Huang Youzheng and Shi Xunyao 3-2 in a thrilling 37-minute final to claim their second WTT mixed doubles title.
Chitale, paired with Yashaswini Ghorpade, will also feature as the fourth seed in women's doubles main draw.

Speaking on her recent achievements, Chitale said, "It feels amazing to be the top seed at the WTT Star Contender in Chennai. Manush (Shah) and I recently won the Contender event in Muscat, Oman, beating several quality opponents along the way, which has given us a lot of confidence.

"The growth of Indian table tennis over the past year has been tremendous, and we've worked hard on different aspects of our game. We're improving steadily and will take it one match at a time. Of course, the goal is always to win gold for India, and playing at home, I'm really hoping for strong support from the crowd."