WTT Star Contender Doha 2024 Final Results: Manush Shah and Manav Thakkar only Indians to make it to the quarterfinals

With table tennis action underway once again in 2024, all eyes are on the WTT Star Contender Doha 2024, taking place at the Lusail Sports Arena in Doha, Qatar. The USD 250,000 event has attracted top paddlers from around the world and even featured some of India’s finest table tennis stars looking to kickstart their 2024 campaign on a positive note.

Despite some brilliant performances, Manush Shah and Manav Thakkar were the only Indian players to make it to the quarterfinals. Apart from Manav and Manush in the men’s doubles category, India had several players who made it to the main draw, but none managed to get past the opening rounds.

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How the Indian players fared at the WTT Star Contender Doha 2024?

In the men's singles category, Harmeet Desai and the seasoned Achanta Sharath Kamal were the only Indians to progress from the qualifying rounds. Unfortunately, Desai faced a tough challenge against Hong Kong's Wong Chun Ting, ultimately losing a close 4-set battle 13-11, 9-11, 9-11, 3-11.

Meanwhile, Sharath Kamal succumbed to Spain's Alvaro Robles with a scoreline of 6-11, 8-11, 8-11. Manush Shah and Snehit Suravajjula bowed out in the second and first rounds of the qualifying rounds, respectively.

In the women's singles category, Manika Batra, who had a direct entry into the main draw, faced Australia's Yangzi Liu in the first round. Batra, ranked 35 in the world, engaged in a thrilling five-set match but ultimately fell short and lost with a score of 11-9, 5-11, 6-11, 11-6, 7-11.

Yashaswini Ghorpade, who made it through the qualifying rounds too, faced a tough challenge against Elizabeta Samara, losing 12-10, 6-11, 10-12, 8-11. Sreeja Akula, Sutirtha Mukherjee, and Archana Kamath faced early exits in the qualifying rounds.

Manush Shah and Manav Thakkar represented India as the only men's doubles pair in the main draw. They secured an impressive victory against Qatar's Abdullah Abdulwahhab and Mohammed Abdulwahhab with a score of 11-4, 15-13, 11-6, advancing to the quarterfinals.

However, their journey ended there at the hands of South Korea's Jang Woojin and An Jaehyun, losing 11-8, 6-11, 6-11, 5-11. Sathiyan Ganansekaran and Achanta Sharath Kamal, along with Snehit Suravajjula and Harmeet Desai, lost in the first round of the qualifying rounds.

Yashaswini Ghorpade, who had also reached the main draw of the singles category, paired up with Sreeja Akula and were India's only women's doubles pair in the main draw. But, they suffered a defeat against China's Qian Tianyi and Chen Xingtong, with a score of 6-11, 7-11, 5-11. Yashaswini and Sreeja beat Manika Batra and Archana Kamath in the last round of qualifying to enter the main draw.

In the mixed doubles event, Manika Batra and Sathiyan Ganansekaran, India's sole representative in the main draw, lost to China’s Lin S. and Kuai M. 4-11, 2-11, 4-11.

Manav Thakkar and Archana Kamath were the only other mixed doubles pair from India to take part in the tournament, but unfortunately, they lost in the last round of qualifying.

WTT Star Contender action will now shift to Goa, India, where Indian fans will get to witness a large number of Indian paddlers battle it out with the world’s best.