Divyanshi Bhowmick, Sathiyan-Akash shine as India bags 11 medals at WTT Youth Contender and Contender Lagos
India bagged 11 medals at WTT Youth Contender 2025 in Almaty, with Divyanshi Bhowmick leading the charge, while G Sathiyan and Akash Pal clinched men’s doubles gold at WTT Contender Lagos.
Hyderabad: Fresh from her under-15 gold medal at the Asian Youth Championships in Tashkent recently, Divyanshi Bhowmick continued her fine run to claim the under-19 girls’ title at the WTT Youth Contender 2025 in Almaty on Saturday.
She overcame Zlata Terekhova of the Russian Federation 3-1 (11-4, 8-11, 11-7, 11-2) in a dominant final.
Her semifinal was a straight-games win over Eseniia Shirokova, while the quarterfinal proved more challenging as she edged past South Korea’s Jeong Yein in five tight games (3-11, 14-12, 11-8, 3-11, 11-7).
In the all-Indian under-17 boys’ final, Priyanuj Bhattacharyya rallied from a game down to beat P. B. Abhinand 3-1 (8-11, 11-9, 11-3, 11-6), recovering quickly to take control of the match after a close second game.
In the under-15 girls’ final, Ananya Muralidharan had to settle for silver after going down 8-11, 8-11, 8-11 to Lu Yu-En of Taiwan, unable to recover from an early deficit.
India wrapped up the Almaty event with a total of 11 medals — two gold, two silver and seven bronze. The bronze medallists included Ritvik Gupta and Aditya Das (under-15 singles), Riana Bhoota (under-15 singles), Divyanshi Bhowmick and Syndrela Das (under-17 singles), and the mixed doubles pairs of Ritvik and Ananya, and Ankolika Chakraborty and Sahil Rawat (under-15).
Sathiyan–Akash pair wins gold
Continuing India’s strong run on the international circuit, the WTT Contender Lagos 2025 saw G. Sathiyan and Akash Pal win their maiden men’s doubles title with a clinical 11-9, 11-4, 11-9 victory over Jules Rolland and Leo De Nodrest of France.
It was Sathiyan’s second career WTT doubles title, having won his first with Harmeet Desai in Tunis in 2021. The unseeded pair showed great synergy, with Akash playing the aggressor and Sathiyan focusing on control and placement.
In the women’s singles, Sreeja Akula delivered a strong performance en route to the final, defeating top seed Hina Hayata, seventh seed Jieni Shao and fourth seed Prithika Pavade in successive rounds. However, in a tightly contested final, she was edged out by Japanese second seed Honoka Hashimoto 11-7, 11-3, 11-4, 9-11, 13-11.
In the mixed doubles final, the French duo of Rolland and Pavade got the better of Akash Pal and Poymantee Baisya, winning 12-10, 11-6, 6-11, 11-7.
