The 2026 WTT Star Contender Chennai will be led by India’s wild card entrants Anusha Kutumbale and Priyanuj Bhattacharyya, with 23 players in the main draw and 33 entries in total. The event is scheduled to be held from February 10 to 15 at the Tamil Nadu Physical Education and Sports University, with co-hosts Ultimate Table Tennis, Sharath Kamal Academy, and Stupa Sports AI with the support of SDAT. The second edition of the event has a prize purse of USD 300,000.
WTT Feeder Series Vadodara 2026 women’s singles finalist Anusha will be joined by three other Indian wild cards in the women’s singles category, including Sayali Wani, Kavya Bhatt and Taneesha Kotecha. Meanwhile, Priyanuj, WTT Youth Contender Vadodara 2026 U-19 singles winner in boy’s category, will join Anirban Ghosh and Divyansh Srivastava in the main draw. Remi Betelu is another addition to the men’s singles wild entrant.
The Indian pair of national champion Diya Chitale and Manush Shah, who got their nation its first-ever spot in the WTT Finals qualifiers, have a direct entry to the main draw event. In the last edition, the pair got a wild-card entry in the singles category. On the other hand, Syndrela Das & Payas Jain, WTT Feeder Vadodara 2026 winning pair, have got a wild card spot in the mixed doubles event. Meanwhile, India’s Swastika Ghosh and Luxembourg’s Sarah De Nutte have been given the women’s doubles wild card entry.
Speaking about the wildcard entrants this edition, Event Director Achanta Sharath Kamal, who is a former professional table tennis player, believes the new rendition of the WTT Star Contender Chennai has been done to bring the world’s best players and emerging talents on the same platform to compete against each other and test their skills.
Kamal said, “The idea of wild cards in such major tournaments is to provide up and coming talent an opportunity to test themselves against some of the world’s best players and I am confident that the Indian players will showcase their skills on home turf. I am very happy to see that many young players have received a wild card this year and I am confident that the opportunity to play here will help them rise on the international stage.”
WTT Star Contender Chennai 2026 Host Wildcards
Women’s Singles: Anusha Kutumbale, Sayali Wani, Kavya Bhatt, Taneesha Kotecha
Women’s Doubles: Swastika Ghosh (India)/Sarah De Nutte (Luxembourg)
Mixed Doubles: Syndrela Das and Payas Jain
