(by Steve Hopkins)

Early action is underway at the WTT Star Contender Chennai.  The event is being held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium, a state-of-the-art modern venue in Chennai, India. This stop on the WTT Star Contender series, has drawn an elite slate of top players including Japan’s Tomokazu Harimoto (World No. 3), Brazil’s Hugo Calderano (World No. 5), as well as Jonathan Groth, Quadri Aruna, Omar Assar and others.  India’s Sharath Kamal is also playing – he has announced his retirement and this will be one of his final opportunities to compete.

The opening round has already seen some tight matches as players fight to reach the Round of 32 (where the top 16 players will see their first action).  One of the purposes of the WTT Star Contender series is to give rising players a chance to shine, so the format of this event with the 32 lower ranked players in the first round will help with this goal.  In early action so far, Yuta Tanaka had a 3-2 comeback win over Martin Allegro, Taipei’s Liao Cheng-Ting held on for a narrow 3-2 win over Korea’s Park Ganghyeon, and Singapore’s Ho Kwan Kit fell being 0-2 before fighting back for the 3-2 win over Lam Siu Hang.

On the women’s side, top Japanese players Hina Hayata, Miwa Harimoto, and Satsuki Odo as well as Shin Yubin, Cheng I-Ching, and Adriana Diaz are among those seeded out of the first round.   India already has 6 players who have advanced, and with many solid performances and upsets by Indian players over the last years, Chennai may be the perfect venue for these players to make some waves.  Watch out for Ayhika Mukherjee, Sreeja Akula, and Manika Batra as they press to impress the home crowd.

With a prize pool of $275,000 and crucial ITTF ranking points at stake, the tournament promises lots of great action.

The top players see their first action today, and there will be lots of action all weekend.

Visit ButterflyOnline.com for the latest table tennis news and results.