Table Tennis: Sharath Kamal & Ankur Bhattacharjee Lead India Contingent at WTT Star Contender Chennai 2025
by Devesh Jaganath | by Devesh Jaganath
Sharath Kamal Looking To Bow Out In Style
The WTT Star Contender Chennai 2025 will be an emotional one for one of India’s greatest ever table tennis players, Sharath Kamal, who will call time on his illustrious career that has spanned over two decades when his competition comes to an end in Chennai this weekend.
Across his incredible career, Kamal has represented his country five times at the Olympics and is a 10-time national champion. However, the greatest legacy he will leave behind is his Commonwealth Games record of 13 medals, including seven gold, three silver and three bronze between 2006 and 2022.
At 42 years of age, Kamal will be the oldest player to feature at the WTT Star Contender Chennai 2025, and while his current world ranking of 92 does not suggest he will go on to win the title, he will have the support of a massive home crowd behind him which could be a telling factor.
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Ankur Bhattacharjee - India’s Rising Star
Currently placed number five in the world in the Boys Singles category in the WTT Youth Rankings, Ankur Bhattacharjee is one of the most promising youngsters in Indian table tennis and enters the WTT Star Contender Chennai 2025 competition in superb form.
The 18-year-old prodigy already has three Boys’ Singles National Championship titles under his belt, but his greatest achievements to date were securing back-to-back WTT Youth Contender titles in Tunis in 2024 and Cappadocia last month, where he beat Iran’s Benyamin Faraji in straight games.
Bhattacharjee is drawn against fellow youngster and countryman Snehit Suravajjula in the first round of the competition, but he will also feature alongside Ayhika Mukherjee in the mixed doubles event after beating Anirban and Swastika Ghosh 3-2 in qualifying on Wednesday.
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Sreeja Akula Aiming To Shine For India Women
Over in the Women’s tournament, India will pin their hopes on Sreeja Akula. She is ranked 33rd in the world, making her the second-highest ranking Indian female table tennis player globally, only behind Manika Batra, who is the world number 27 as of the start of March.
Akula hasn’t made the greatest start to 2025, though, bowing out prematurely in all five tournaments she has played in to date. However, the Hyderabad star took to the media in the lead-up to the competition, insisting that she is not carrying any injuries, while confirming that she is ready to star at the upcoming competition in Chennai.
The 26-year-old is the first Indian to win a WTT singles title, doing so at the WTT Contender Lagos 2024, while she also secured doubles gold alongside Archana Kamanth. She will try her hand in the mixed doubles competition this week with her new partner, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, who is the highest-ranked Indian men’s singles player in the sport.
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