Desai and Ghorpade were in total command in the all-Indian mixed doubles semifinal, beating wildcard Payas Jain and Syndrella Das 3-0 (11-9, 11-6, 11-9) in the second edition of the WTT Star Contender Chennai 2026, co-hosted by Ultimate Table Tennis, Sharath Kamal Academy, with the support of SAI, TTFI & SDAT.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The Indian combination will now face the second seeds Eduard Ionescu and Bernadette Szocs of Romania, who advanced after the third seeds Oh Junsung of Korea and Miku Nagasaki of Japan conceded the match while trailing 1-2.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Oh\u2019s injury meant that the unseeded French combination of Flavien Coton and Thibault Poret were crowned men\u2019s doubles champions without playing a single point in the final.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Japan\u2019s Sakura Yokoi and Sachi Aoki turned out to be too strong for Korean top seeds Ryu Hanna and Kim Nayeong in the women\u2019s doubles final, winning 3-1 (11-6, 6-11, 11-8, 11-8).<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Earlier, India\u2019s hopes in men\u2019s singles were dashed as Czechia\u2019s Lubomir Jancarik claimed his third consecutive victory over a host paddler, this time beating Sathiyan G 3-0 (11-6, 11-8, 13-11) in the quarterfinals.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Jancarik had defeated Manush Shah in the pre-quarters and Manav Thakar in the second round and will now face the Republic of Korea\u2019s Park Ganghyeon in the semifinals.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Earlier, Sathiyan kept Indian hopes alive in men\u2019s singles as he fought back from a 1-2 deficit to beat Ionescu 3-2 (9-11, 11-3, 10-12, 11-7, 11-5) to advance. He will now face Czechia\u2019s Lubomir Jancarik, who got the better of India\u2019s Manush Shah 3-1 (11-4, 13-11, 5-11, 13-11).<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Jancarik had defeated Manush Shah in the pre-quarters and Manav Thakar in the second round and will now face the Republic of Korea\u2019s Park Ganghyeon in the semifinals.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The Korean, however, has given a walkover to Frenchman Thibault Poret in the quarterfinals after he injured himself during the mixed doubles semifinals. India\u2019s challenge in women\u2019s singles also came to an end after qualifier Nithya Mani lost 3-1 (9-11, 11-5, 11-6, 11-8) against Chinese Taipei\u2019s fourth seed Cheng I-Ching in the pre-quarterfinals.<\/p>\r\n\r\n