Mapusa, Jan 12 (IANS): Achanta Sharath Kamal and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, alongside 35 other Indian paddlers, are set to compete in the singles qualifiers, marking a significant milestone as the upcoming WTT Star Contender Goa gears up to achieve the highest-ever Indian participation in a World Table Tennis (WTT) event.
The second edition of India’s biggest international table tennis tournament will be played at the Peddem Indoor Stadium from January 23 to 28. It boasts an impressive prize pool of $250,000, providing players with the opportunity to earn ranking points and qualify for the WTT Cup Finals and WTT Champions Series.
Nine Indians, including the highest world-ranked Indian paddler Manika Batra and Harmeet Desai, secured direct entry into the main draw. The inclusion of 32 new names in the qualifying list brings India’s total participation to 41 across categories. This surpasses the previous highest of 40 participants in the inaugural edition of the tournament.
Besides experienced campaigners like Sharath, Sathiyan, Ayhika Mukherjee, Sutirtha Mukherjee and Sanil Shetty, the qualifiers will also provide glimpses of India’s bright future with the presence of promising youngsters such as the current national champion Poymantee Baisya, Payas Jain, S Fidel R Snehit, Mudit Dani, Jeet Chandra, Diya Chitale, Yashaswini Ghorpade, Archana Kamath, Swastika Ghosh and Suhana Saini among many others.
It will showcase the presence of World No. 5 Hugo Calderano, alongside 16 other top-20 stars in the singles main draw.
The 2023 World Championships doubles bronze medallist Cho Dae-seong, 17-year-old Oh Junsung from Korea and Hungarian paddler Bence Majoros are among the international stars to be in action in the qualifying rounds which will offer eight singles and four doubles main draw spots.
"It’s a great opportunity for young Indian players to compete at an event where top talent from across the world is present; but in front of a home crowd. WTT Star Contender Goa offers the budding Indian talent an experience that goes beyond the table in terms of shaping them as athletes, as individuals and as competitors," said Niraj Bajaj, co-promoter of Ultimate Table Tennis and three-time national champion.