Vadodara (Gujarat) [India], January 4 (ANI): Defending champion Syndrela Das, top seed Divyanshi Bhowmick and Japan's Miku Matsushima began their girls U-19 singles campaign with impressive wins in their respective groups in the WTT Youth Contender 2026, presented by Sports Authority of Gujarat, at the SAMA Indoor Sports Complex here on Sunday, according to a release.

The second edition of the WTT Youth Contender Vadodara 2026 presented by Sports Authority of Gujarat is being hosted by Table Tennis Association of Baroda and implemented by UTT will feature a total of 226 players competing across U-11 to U-19 age categories. Syndrela, who clinch the U-17 title on Saturday, defeated Archismita Mahato 11-7, 11-7, 11-8 in group 3 while Divyanshi defeated Shrestha Kontham 11-4, 11-3, 11-7 in Group 1.

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In Group 2, Miku began with a 11-3, 11-6, 11-4 win over Gunjan Kumar. The top seeds in boys U-19 were also assured of a spot in the knockout out stage as they registered two wins each in their respective groups, as per a release.

The U-15 top seeds also advanced to the knockout stage with comfortable wins in their groups.

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Earlier, Vivaan Dave and Naisha Rewaskar kept their nerves in a topsy-turvey decider that went into extra points to upset top seeds Aditya Das and Ankolika Chakraborty to reach the U-15 mixed doubles final in the WTT Youth Contender at the SAMA Indoor Sports Complex here on Saturday, as per a release.

Vivaan and Naisha defeated the top seeds 13-11, 5-11, 11-7, 5-11, 23-21 and set up a summit clash against compatriots Reyansh Jalan and Tanishka Kalbhairav, who beat Sanjay Jagdish and Myraa Sangelkar 11-3, 15-13, 11-7 in the other semifinal. (ANI)

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