Chennai to host World Table Tennis Star Contender from March 25 to 30

The 2025 edition of the World Table Tennis Star Contender is all set to be take place from March 25 to 30 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai. The qualifying rounds of the tournament are scheduled to take place on March 25. Thereafter, the main draw is scheduled from March 27 to 30.

From Achanta Sharath Kamal to Manika Batra and Sreeja Akula, a number of star players are expected to ply their trade in the championship. Last year, Manika became the first Indian to reach the pre-quarters of table tennis at the Olympics after which Sreeja repeated the feat.

Sreeja and Manika are the only two Indians to have featured in the top 25 of the table tennis rankings. Last year in Sreeja also reached her career-best world ranking of No.24 and also became the first Indian to win a singles title at the WTT Contender level by taking the top spot in Lagos.

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What happened in the previous editions of the WTT Star Contender in Goa?

Back in 2023, the inaugural edition of the WTT Star Contender took place in Goa. China’s Liang Jingkun won the men’s singles title. The then World No.7 defeated 17-year-old Lin Shidong 4-2 in the all-Chinese final. Wang Yidi came up triumps in the women’s singles after beating Chinese Taipei’s Cheng-I-Ching 4-0 in a one-sided summit clash.

South Korean pair of An Jaehyun and Cho Seungmin bagged the men’s doubles title after beating Japan’s Shunsuke Togami and Yukiya Uda 3-1 in the grand finale. The pair of Miyu Nagasaki and Miwa Harimoto became champions in women’s singles after beating Chinese Taipei’s Cheng and Li Yu-Jhun 3-0.

In the second edition in Goa in 2024, France’s Felix Lebrun won the men’s singles title while Cheng-I-Ching, who finished as the runner-up in 2023, claimed the women’s singles crown. Lim Jonghoon & An Jaehyun and Shin Yubin & Jeon Jihee won the men’s doubles and women’s doubles titles, respectively.