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Indian table tennis duo of Manush Shah and Diya Chitale secured the mixed doubles title at the World Table Tennis (WTT) Contender Muscat 2026, eking out a brilliant five-game win at Sultan Qaboos Sport Complex in Oman.
On Friday, the third-seeded Indian pair defeated China's fourth-seeded Huang Youzheng and Shi Xunyao 3-2 (11-5, 5-11, 11-5, 5-11, 13-11) in a title clash that lasted 37 minutes to secure their second mixed doubles crown at the WTT Contender event, as per Olympics.com. Currently ranked at number eight, Manush and Diya had earlier won the WTT Contender Tunis title in April last year, outclassing Japan's Sora Matsushima and Miwa Harimoto 3-2 in the final; the latter was also a part of Japan's silver medal-winning team at the Paris 2024 Olympics. The Muscat triumph was set up with a strong comeback in the semifinals, where the Indian duo overturned a two-game deficit to beat France's Thibault Poret and Charlotte Lutz 3-2 (10-12, 8-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-8). Manush and Diya started their run in the tournament with a 3-2 win over China's Chen Yuanyu and Han Feier in the pre-quarters, followed by a fine showing in the quarterfinals, where they beat Singapore's Pang Koen and Zeng Jian 3-1. These WTT Contender events provide players with valuable ranking points, which help them make their case for higher-tier WTT Champions and Super Smash competitions. India also witnessed Manush enjoying a fine men's doubles run with Manav Thakkar as they reached the semifinals, before losing to China's Lin Shidong and Huang Youzheng (11-8, 9-11, 11-6, 8-11, 7-11). (ANI)
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