Vadodara to see 334 players from 10 countries face off in WTT games

Around 334 players from 10 countries will vie for honours at the WTT Youth Contender and the WTT Feeder Series, scheduled to begin at the Sama Indoor Sports Complex in Vadodara on Friday.

The second edition of the WTT Youth Contender, featuring U-11 to U-19 categories, will be held from January 2 to 5, followed by the WTT Feeder Series from January 7 to 11.

The Youth Contender will see participation from 226 players representing four countries, while the Feeder Series will feature 108 players from 10 nations.

The Youth Contender will begin with the U-13 and U-17 singles events on Friday, with competitions in the U-11, U-15 and U-19 categories scheduled for January 4 and 5.

India had dominated the WTT Youth Contenders last year, with Ankur Bhattacharjee and Syndrela Das clinching the U-19 boys' and girls' singles titles respectively.

Divyanshi Bhowmick won both the U-15 and U-17 girls' singles crowns.

Divyanshi will compete in the U-17 and U-19 categories this year, while Syndrela will aim to defend her U-19 girls' singles title.

“When you want to qualify for major international events like the Olympics and Commonwealth Games, you need a good ranking. Players often have to spend heavily travelling abroad to earn ranking points,” Table Tennis Federation of India Secretary General Kamlesh Mehta said in a release.

“By conducting such events in India, more players get the opportunity to compete at a far lower cost and also exploit home advantage,” he added.

Syndrela and Divyanshi will also be in action in the WTT Feeder Series, along with Korea Republic's Park Gahyeon (world No. 75) and Yoo Yrein (world No. 78).

The Indian challenge in the women's singles will also be led by the experienced Sutirtha Mukherjee and Ayhika Mukherjee, along with world No. 85 Yashaswini Ghorpade, who has been awarded a wild card.

In the men's singles, Manush Shah, who along with Diya Chitale became the first Indian mixed doubles pair to qualify for the season-ending WTT Finals, will spearhead the home challenge alongside Harmeet Desai, Snehit S and Ankur Bhattacharjee.

Wild cards for WTT Feeder Series:

Men's singles (main draw): Pratham Madlani (India), Sanil Shetty (India), Ali Alkhadrawi (Saudi Arabia), Abdulaziz Bu Shulaybi (Saudi Arabia), Abdulrahman Al Taher (Saudi Arabia)

Women's singles (main draw): Yang Ha Eun (Korea Republic), Yashaswini Ghorpade (India), Debolina Das (India), Maria Rony (India)Women's singles (qualifying): Tanishka Kalbhairav (India)

Women's doubles (main draw): Tanishka Kalbhairav/Maria Rony, Neha Kumari/Mukta Dalvi

Men's doubles (main draw): Ronit Bhanja/Oishik Ghosh (India), Divyansh Srivastava/Sarth Mishra (India)

Mixed doubles (main draw): Akash Gupta/Garima Goyal (India), Ronit Bhanja/Sutirtha Mukherjee (India).