Manav Thakkar, Sachi Aoki to be top seeds at WTT Feeder Chennai

World No. 48 Manav Thakkar will head the men’s field in Chennai. | Photo Credit: SHASHI SHEKHAR KASHYAP

India’s Manav Thakkar and Japan’s Sachi Aoki will be the singles top seeds at the WTT Feeder Chennai, to be held at the Tamil Nadu Physical Education and Sports University (TNPESU) from October 28 to November 1.

World No. 48 Thakkar heads the men’s field, while the 55th-ranked Aoki leads the women’s entries. Asian Games mixed doubles bronze medallist Diya Chitale will spearhead the Indian women’s singles challenge.

Chitale, ranked 66th, returns to international competition on home soil after partnering Manush Shah to bronze at the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya. She is the highest-ranked Indian in the women’s singles field, behind Aoki and South Korea’s Yang Haeun, ranked 60th.

Ankur Bhattacharjee, ranked 66th, and G. Sathiyan, ranked 82nd, join Thakkar among the leading men’s entries. South Korea’s Kwon Hyuk, at No. 93, is the highest-ranked overseas entrant, with Harmeet Desai, ranked 97th, completing the top five.

Payas Jain (107), Snehit Suravajjula (117) and Akash Pal (146) are also in the men’s singles field, giving India seven of the eight highest-ranked entrants.

Yashaswini Ghorpade, ranked 76th, follows Chitale among the Indian women. Divyanshi Bhowmick (120), Sutirtha Mukherjee (128), Nithya Mani (130) and Swastika Ghosh (138) are among the other home players, while Japan’s Cocona Muramatsu is ranked 132nd.

In mixed doubles, Desai and Ghorpade will pair up again after reaching the final of February’s Star Contender Chennai. They finished runners-up to Romania’s Eduard Ionescu and Bernadette Szocs at the same venue.

Thakkar will partner Taneesha Kotecha, while Pal teams up with Mukherjee and Jain with Sayali Wani. Kwon and Kim Seoyun are among the South Korean combinations in the field.

Aoki has also enjoyed success in Chennai this year, winning the Star Contender women’s doubles title alongside compatriot Sakura Yokoi. The pair defeated South Korea’s Ryu Hanna and Kim Nayeong 3-1 in the final.

The senior tournament will follow the WTT Youth Contender Chennai, scheduled for October 23 to 26.

This will be Chennai’s second senior WTT event of 2026, following the Star Contender from February 10 to 15. India also hosted the WTT Feeder Vadodara from January 7 to 11.