The WTT Star Contender Chennai 2026 is set to take place from February 10–15 at the Tamil Nadu Physical Education and Sports University. This event will mark Chennai’s second time hosting the tournament and the fourth WTT Star Contender held in India. With an increased prize purse of USD 300,000, up from USD 275,000 last season, the competition will see singles winners earn USD 17,000 and 600 ranking points.
Indian table tennis legend Sharath Kamal, who retired from the sport at last year’s event, will serve as the tournament director for the 2026 edition. The tournament will feature top players like Oh Jun-sung from Korea and Miwa Harimoto from Japan. India’s representation will include players like Manav Thakkar, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, Manush Shah, Harmeet Desai, and Ayhika Mukherjee, as well as promising talents Yashaswini Ghorpade, Diya Chitale, and Snehit Suravajjula.
Manush Shah and Diya Chitale, India’s first-ever WTT Finals qualifiers and champions at the WTT Contender Muscat 2026, will lead the mixed doubles category. Additionally, the men’s doubles challenge will be spearheaded by world No. 7 Manav Thakkar and Manush Shah. The tournament will host 167 players from 17 countries, including 90 Indians and 77 international players, following a knockout format starting from February 12.
In the Women’s Singles category, 16-year-old Miwa Harimoto emerged victorious by defeating Honoka Hashimoto 4-2. Notably, Manav Thakkar’s impressive journey concluded in the penultimate round, making him the sole Indian male player to reach a WTT Star Contender Semifinal. The Mixed Doubles title was clinched by South Korea’s Lim Jong-hoon and Shin Yu-bin with a straight-games victory.
The previous edition, WTT Star Contender Chennai 2025, was organized by Stupa Sports Analytics and Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) under the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI). This event featured a USD 275,000 prize purse and awarded 600 ranking points to the winners.
