WTT Vadodara 2026: Manush Shah starts as Top Seed; Sarthak Arya, Sougata Sarkar qualify for Men's Singles Main Draw

The WTT Vadodara 2026 feeder event starts from Friday (January 9), and a few top names in the Table Tennis circuit will battle for the Men's Singles title.

After a pulsating first couple of days in the qualifiers, eight players have advanced to the main draw and will commence their battle for glory from Round 1 of the main competition.

WTT Vadodara 2026 Manush Shah Top Seed Sarthak Arya Sougata Sarkar qualify for Men s Singles Main Draw

A total of 32 players have advanced to the main draw, with India's Manush Shah being the star pick among the names. The 24-year-old player is ranked 75 in the world, the best ranked among all in the Men's category and the top seed of this feeder event.

Similarly, a few other big Indian names are set to feature, as veteran Harmeet Desai, who is the 2nd seed, will lock horns against Sanil Shetty. Snehit Suravajjula and Ankur Bhattacharya are up against Pratham Madlani and Abhinandh Pradhivadhi, respectively, in their Round of 32 encounter.

Priyanuj Bhattacharya, who recently won the U19 title in the youth contender event, will battle against the 8th seed Navid Shams in the first round.

Manush, who will be playing on his home turf, is a favourite to win the Feeder event this time around, which holds a prize money pool of USD 30,000. The entire Round of 32 will be played on Friday, which will be followed by the Round of 16 encounters as well.

The Qualifiers

Bengal duo Sougata Sarkar and Shankhadip Das qualified for the main draw after some excellent showing in the final qualifiers match. Shankhadip beat fourth seed Harshit Kumar in four sets, while Sougata secured a big win over Subrat Verma.

Another top-notch performance of the day came from Sarthak Arya, who showcased immense grit to win a hard battle against Raegan Albuqurque. The energetic Odisha player pulled off a crucial win and is now set to take part in the main draw.