WTT Star Contender Chennai: Youngsters Tanishka , Naisha impress in qualifying rounds

Chennai, Feb 10 (PTI) Young paddlers Tanishka Kalbhairav and Naisha Rewaskar registered convincing victories in their respective women's singles matches to reach the final qualifying round of the WTT Star Contender Chennai 2026 here on Tuesday.

The tournament, co-hosted by Ultimate Table Tennis, Sharath Kamal Academy, and Stupa Sports AI with the support of SDAT kicked off at the Tamil Nadu Physical Education and Sports University.

13-year-old Tanishka upset the experienced Maria Rony 3-1 (11-2 8-11 11-7 11-4) in the second qualifying round while Naisha defeated wild card entrant Palak Ghia 3-0 (11-3 11-8 11-6) to advance to the final qualifying round of the USD 300,000 event.

Earlier, Gungun Sahu upset a higher ranked Hardee Patel 3-1 (12-10 8-11 11-9 12-10) to move to the final round of qualifying.

In the men's singles category, India's Umesh Kumar fought back from a game down to pack off Nepal's Rajiv Chikanbanjar 3-1 (6-11 11-3 11-5 11-8) to reach the third qualifying round.

Also advancing to the final qualifying round were wild card entrants Punit Biswas and Balamurgan Rajasekaran.

Biswas defeated compatriot Arjav Gupta 3-1 (11-7 11-6 9-11 11-8), while Balamurgan beat Neil Mulye 3-0 (11-5 13-11 11-9) in the second qualifying round. PTI SSC SSC UNG