WTT Youth Contender Chennai: Sakshya Santhosh Stuns Top Seed Sananda Srijith; Sayanika Maji, Himon Mondal Reach Semifinals

Sakshya Santhosh produced one of the standout performances at the WTT Youth Contender Chennai 2026, knocking out top seed Sananda Srijith in the U11 girls’ singles quarterfinals, while Sayanika Maji and Himon Mondal impressed with victories against higher-ranked opponents to advance in their respective categories.

Third seed Sakshya defeated Sananda 11-7, 9-11, 11-1, 11-4 at the Tamil Nadu Physical Education and Sports University on Monday, underlining her ability to recover quickly after dropping the second game. The four-day tournament, presented by the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu, features 12 categories from U11 to U19 and runs from October 23 to 26.

Sakshya will next face second seed Aadya Baheti in the semifinals. In the other last-four contest, ninth seed Kritika Saibo, who defeated fifth seed Nandhana Bandi without dropping a game, will take on seventh seed Anika Maheshwari.

Sayanika Maji was among the leading performers in the U19 girls’ singles, securing two significant wins to book her semifinal place.

The 11th seed first defeated fifth seed Naisha Rewaskar 11-8, 11-7, 11-7 in the pre-quarterfinals before producing an even more commanding performance against third seed Prisha Goel. Sayanika won 11-0, 8-11, 11-3, 11-5, recovering from the second-game setback to control the contest.

She will meet 12th seed Swara Karmarkar, who also enjoyed a productive day. Swara defeated 27th seed Aarushi Nandi 11-3, 4-11, 11-4, 11-2, dropping just one game across her matches. Top seed Divyanshi Bhowmick survived a close encounter against seventh seed Jennifer Varghese, winning 12-10, 11-7, 10-12, 12-10. Divyanshi will face sixth seed Ananya Muralidharan in the quarterfinals.

Second seed Satya Aspathi of the United States also had to fight back, recovering from two games down to defeat 13th seed Anvi Gupte. She will next meet fourth seed Hansini Mathan.

Thirteen-year-old Himon Mondal produced another notable result in the U15 boys’ singles, defeating fifth seed Koh Wei Yeow of Malaysia 11-3, 11-9, 9-11, 11-4. The 20th seed followed that victory by overcoming 49th seed Rounak Sarkar 11-9, 12-10, 11-5 to reach the semifinals. Rounak had earlier eliminated fourth seed Vivaan Dave, making Himon’s second victory another significant result in a category marked by upsets.

Himon will now face second seed Vatsal Duklan, who advanced with an 11-8, 11-6, 11-4 win over seventh seed Prateek Tulsani.

Third seed Sanjey Arwindh was another casualty, losing to 34th seed Shriram Kiran 10-12, 11-8, 11-9, 7-11, 11-6. Shriram will face 22nd seed Sathyanarayanan Karmeghakannan in the quarterfinals, while top seed Aditya Das takes on sixth seed Rishaan Chattopadhayay.

Sahil Rawat, Kumar Harshit advance in U19 boys’ singles

The U19 boys’ singles also witnessed several noteworthy results. Fifteenth seed Sahil Rawat defeated third seed Sudhanshu Maini 11-8, 11-8, 11-6 to secure a quarterfinal meeting with 10th seed Arjav Gupta, who defeated sixth seed Ahmed Korani of Qatar.

Seventh seed Kumar Harshit recovered from a 1-2 deficit to defeat fourth seed Nikkhil Mannath 11-9, 12-14, 6-11, 11-8, 11-4. He will face 16th seed Atharva Nawarange in the next round. Forty-third seed Nikunj Attri produced another upset, edging 21st seed Ronald Sarkar 11-9, 9-11, 10-12, 11-9, 12-10. His reward is a quarterfinal against top seed Abhinandh Pradhivadhi.

Second seed Priyanuj Bhattacharyya, meanwhile, survived a five-game contest against ninth seed Punit Biswas and will meet fifth seed Ritvik Gupta.

The U15 girls’ singles saw 34th seed Shreya Dhar defeat fifth seed Janvi Garg 11-3, 11-6, 11-6. She will face second seed Sreejani Chakraborty. Fortieth seed Ranjini Saha defeated eighth seed Subhomita Basak in four games and will take on top seed Ahona Ray. Tenth seed Advika Agrawal edged fourth seed Sri Saanvi Kamarapu 8-11, 11-3, 3-11, 11-8, 12-10 to set up a meeting with 11th seed Ishani Gogoi, who eliminated seventh seed Divija Paul.

In the U11 boys’ singles, top seed Sharvil Karambelkar defeated 11th seed Ashank Dalvi 11-5, 11-1, 11-7 and will face third seed Rehansh Singhvi, who overcame fourth seed Ishaan Colaso. Second seed Pranit Agrawal will meet 15th seed Arnav Mithun.

The tournament’s champions list also features several promising young players. Divyanshi Bhowmick won the U19 girls’ singles title, while Priyanuj Bhattacharyya claimed the U19 boys’ singles crown. Sudhanshu Maini and Prisha Goel won the U19 mixed doubles title. Sahil Rawat and Ananya Muralidharan topped the U17 boys’ and girls’ singles categories respectively. Aditya Das and Sreejani Chakraborty won the U15 singles titles, while Vatsal Duklan and Ahona Ray combined to win the U15 mixed doubles crown.

Dev won the U13 boys’ singles title, Divija Paul took the U13 girls’ crown, and Arnav Mithun and Sakshya Santhosh emerged as the U11 boys’ and girls’ singles champions.

With several lower-seeded players making deep runs and established favourites facing stiff challenges, the Chennai event has highlighted the competitive depth of India’s emerging table tennis talent.