Two podium finishes for the Indian paddlers at the WTT Star Contender series, a globally prestigious event in Brazil on Saturday, are yet another feather for the TT fraternity.
Though the Indian men’s and mixed doubles pairs went down fighting to their respective opponents, that they reached this stage is a step forward for the game.
Only last week, top Indian women’s TT player Sreeja Akula reached the finals of the WTT tournament and won a silver, proving that she is no pushover in the international table tennis arena. Both she and her teammates have been putting it across higher-ranked Chinese and Japanese players consistently and rising through the world rankings.
In the Brazil WTT tournament that concluded on Saturday, the Indian doubles pair, Manav Thakkar and Manush, went down fighting in the finals to Germany’s Benedikt Duda and Dang Qiu. The Germans edged out the Indians 3-2 (11-3, 7-11, 11-7, 13-15, 11-5) in a 42-minute title clash, swinging both sides in a closely fought, fierce encounter.
Likewise, the Indian mixed doubles pair, Diya Chitale and Manush Shah, lost to the Japanese pair Satoshi Aida and Honoka Hashimoto in another close-fought thriller with a scoreline of two sets to three (4-11, 11-8, 11-5, 5-11, 2-11).
It is the first time that Indian TT players have won two silver medals in a WTT tournament; that is a testimony to the growth of the game and the players, thanks to a robust system of training and coaching in place.
“We are no longer just participating—we’re competing. And winning,” said Indian TT national coach Saurav Chakraborty. Congratulating the team, he told News24 Saurav said, “It was a spectacular show by the Indian table tennis team by winning two silver medals in the doubles events – Men’s and Mixed.
“This is the first time Indian players made history by winning the 2 silver medals in the Star Contender in Brazil 2025. So proud of you guys … Jai Hind,” Chakraborty said even as people across the globe began acclaiming the stupendous achievement of the Indian contingent.
“All the players are upgrading their rankings. And they had proven us right and fulfilled our expectations before we left for the tournament last week. We missed the gold in Women’s singles narrowly but won two silver medals in the doubles fixtures, and it is a superlative performance by an Indian team in an international table tennis outing,” Chakraborty said.
This is a good omen for the paddlers in India, some of whom are now slowly acquiring status and stardom that was reserved only for cricket and tennis players in the country.
Indian women’s TT player Mannika Batra is already a well-recognised sporting star who is also winning several advertisement contracts and also movie roles that she has rejected to focus on her game.
Coach Chakraborty ascribes the rise of table tennis to the plethora of steps taken by the government and the TTFI that are giving tremendous opportunities for the players – for training, coaching, and also helping them in their livelihood options.
Said another TT coach from Chennai, nowadays, even the corporate sector has begun supporting the game. Besides, there is an IPL type of a TT tournament, in which foreign players are also participating, thereby improving the standard of the tournaments and also the game of the domestic players who live and train along with the foreign players.
