India’s Syndrela Das and Rupam Sardar secured comfortable victories to clinch the U-17 girls’ and U-17 boys’ singles titles in the WTT Youth Contender 2026 at the SAMA Indoor Sports Complex in Vadodara on Saturday. Divija Paul and Dev Pranav Bhat were crowned the U-13 girls’ and boys’ champions, respectively.
U-17 Singles Finals
Syndrela, who won the U-19 girls singles title last year, ended the dream run of Hansini Mathan with a score of 11-3, 9-11, 11-9, 11-8 in the U-17 girls’ singles final. In the boys’ U-17 final, Rupam Sardar triumphed over Soham Mukherjee, finishing with a score of 11-8, 6-11, 11-5, 11-3.
This is the second year that the WTT Youth Contender is being held in Vadodara, featuring competitions from U-11 to U-19 categories with a total of 226 players participating.
U-13 Finals Highlights
In the U-13 category, Divija Paul staged a comeback from a 1-2 deficit to defeat Harshitha Nurani, with scores of 11-7, 7-11, 8-11, 11-7, 11-5 in the girls’ singles final. Meanwhile, Dev Pranav Bhat claimed the boys’ singles title by beating Ashvajith Muthukumaran 11-6, 7-11, 11-7, 11-4.
Syndrela, who had upset second-seeded Miku Matsushima of Japan in the semifinals, started strong and took the first game comfortably. However, Hansini, who stunned top seed Divyanshi Bhowmick in the pre-quarterfinals, regained her rhythm to win the second game.
Ultimately, Syndrela’s experience proved pivotal, allowing her to secure the next two games in a closely contested match, thus clinching the title.
Upcoming Mixed Doubles Clash
Syndrela will also have the opportunity to contend for the U-19 mixed doubles crown on Sunday. She and her partner, Sarthak Arya, are set to face top seeds Abhinandh Pradhivadhi and Ananya Muralidharan, who successfully advanced after defeating Ritvik Gupta and Ahona Ray 9-11, 14-12, 11-7, 11-8 in the semifinals. Sarthak and Syndrela ended the inspired run of Sahil Rawat and Hardee Patel with a score of 11-6, 12-10, 5-11, 11-5.
Earlier, in the U-15 mixed doubles semi-final, Vivaan Dave and Naisha Rewaskar showcased their nerves under pressure by upsetting top seeds Aditya Das and Ankolika Chakraborty. The duo won with a dramatic score of 13-11, 5-11, 11-7, 5-11, 23-21, thereby setting up a final against Reyansh Jalan and Tanishka Kalbhairav, who defeated Sanjay Jagdish and Myraa Sangelkar 11-3, 15-13, 11-7 in the other semifinal.
Vivaan and Naisha displayed their fighting spirit right from the opening game, coming back from 5-8 down and saving a game point to secure the win. The pairs exchanged victories in the subsequent games, leading to a thrilling decider. Aditya and Ankolika initially took a 4-0 lead in the deciding game and even had three match points at 10-7.
However, Vivaan and Naisha saved all three match points, maintaining their composure to level the score each time before ultimately winning four straight points to finish the match.