Achanta Sharath Kamal's swansong: Streaming details and everything else you need to know about WTT Star Contender Chennai 2025
For the upcoming week, Chennai's Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium will be the center of attention for Indian table tennis fans. Not only because the WTT Star Contender Chennai 2025 — which gets underway on Tuesday — will feature top players from around the world, but also because it marks the swansong of Achanta Sharath Kamal.
Sharath has been the torchbearer of Indian table tennis for over two decades now. With five Olympic Games appearances and 13 Commonwealth Games medals to his name, he has had a stellar career.
To give you an idea of how phenomenal those returns are, here is a small illustration — Out of those 13 CWG medals, 7 are gold. If Sharath was a country, he would rank 23rd on an all-time tally.
Perhaps, it is only fitting that the veteran gets to say goodbye to the sport in his hometown. He will compete in men's singles as well as in men's doubles, partnering with Snehit Suravajjula.
Which other Indian players are participating?
All of India's top paddlers will be competing at the WTT Star Contender 2025. The participants' list includes heavyweights like Sreeja Akula, Manika Batra, Harmeet Desai and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran as well as young emerging stars like Ankur Bhattacharjee, Yashaswini Ghorpade and Diya Chitale.
The duo of Manav Thakkar and Manush Shah are seeded number 1 for the men's double's competition. Both will also compete in the men's singles as well as mixed doubles where Thakkar will be partnered by Batra and Shah will have Chitale on his side.
Asian Games medalists Ayhika Mukherjee and Sutirtha Mukherjee are expected to lead India's charge in women's doubles.
Mudit Dani will team up with Malta's Kim Taehyun for the men's doubles.
The competition will feature several other younger Indian players.
Who are some of the international stars to watch out for?
Japanese paddlers are expected to dominate the headlines. Hina Hayata, Miwa Harimoto and Satsuki Odo are respectively the top three seeds in the women's singles.
Meanwhile, Tomokazo Harimoto is seeded number 1 in the men's singles. Brazil's Hugo Calderano and Egypt's Omar Assar are other players to keep your eyes on. The tournament will also feature Spain's Alvaro Robles and Nigeria's Quadri Aruna, who participated in UTT Season 5, which was played at the same venue six months ago.
Where to watch WTT Star Contender Chennai 2025?
In India, the tournament can be watched live on SonyLiv as well as on World Table Tennis' YouTube channel. There will be no TV telecast for the same.