WTT Star Contender Goa 2024: Manika Batra Leads India's Challenge While World No. 5 Hugo Calderano Headlines Exciting Field In Men's Draw

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World No. 5 Hugo Calderano will spearhead a strong singles field as India gears up for the mega table tennis carnival with the WTT Star Contender Goa 2024, scheduled at the Peddem Indoor Stadium in Goa from January 23 to 28.

Ace Indian paddler Manika Batra, who is currently ranked 35 in the world, reigning national champion Harmeet Desai (World Ranking 75), and Sreeja Akula (WR 89) have ensured the country's presence in the singles main draw with a direct entry.

Hugo Calderano, the former Youth Olympics bronze medallist from Brazil, will be among the 17 Top-20 stars to feature in the singles main draw of India's biggest international table tennis tournament, co-hosted by Stupa Sports Analytics and Ultimate Table Tennis under the guidance of Table Tennis Federation of India.

WTT Star Contender Goa is one of the most prestigious events in the international table tennis calendar and it allows players to win ranking points and qualify for the WTT Cup Finals and WTT Champions Series.

The 17-year-old rising French star Felix Lebrun (WR 8), former World No. 1 and two-time Olympics bronze medallist Dimitrij Ovtcharov (WR 12), African legend Quadri Aruna (WR 16), 2021 World Championships silver medallist Truls Moregard of Sweden (WR 19) and South Korea's Jang Woojin (WR 10) are among the key attractions in the men's singles main draw.

Dang Qiu (WR 13), Darko Jorgic (WR 14), Anton Kallberg (WR 15), Lim Jong-hoon (WR 17), Marcos Freitas (WR 18) and Omar Assar (WR 20) are the other Top-20 players to compete in the men's singles main event.

The women's singles main draw, on the other hand, will feature South Korea's Shin Yubin (WR 9), Xiaoxin Yang (WR 14), Joo Cheonhui (WR 16) and the last edition's runner-up Cheng I-Ching (WR 18) among others.

The 48-player singles main draw will consist of 34 direct entries, four wildcards, two Top-20 nominations by WTT and eight qualifiers. The doubles main draw will feature 16 pairs with 10 direct entries, two wildcards and four from the qualifiers.

The tournament boasts a massive prize pool of $250,000. Four Indian pairs have also secured direct entries in their respective categories. Manika and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran will compete in the mixed doubles while Ayhika Mukherjee and Sutirtha Mukherjee have made the cut for the women's doubles main draw. The pair of Sathiyan-Sharath Kamal and Manush Shah-Manav Thakkar will feature in the men's doubles main draw.