WTT Star Contender Chennai: Manush Shah discusses prowess and preparation ahead of busy 2026 season

Manush Shah may be the reigning national men’s singles champion, but at the global stage, he has established himself as India’s best doubles player in the last few years.

In the current ITTF Rankings, Shah is World No. 5 in men’s doubles (with Manav Thakkar) and World No. 7 in mixed doubles (Diya Chitale).

The 25-year-old paddler from Vadodara is an important member of the Indian table tennis team in the post-Sharath Kamal era.

How India fares at big-ticket events such as the World Team Championships, the Asian Games and the Mixed Team World Cup in a packed 2026 season will depend a lot on Shah’s performances across categories.

On the sidelines of the WTT Star Contender Chennai, where Shah-Thakkar and Shah-Chitale pairs are the top seeds in men’s and mixed doubles, respectively, the bespectacled southpaw shared his thoughts on his doubles prowess, the improvement in singles, preparation for a busy season and more.

Q: You are in the top 10 in both men’s and mixed doubles categories. How do you see your career trajectory in doubles?

A: Definitely, the last few years have been really good, especially 2025. We have played really well. I still feel we are yet to make our mark at the bigger tournaments like the Grand Smash, the World Championship, and the Asian championships. So, we want to create history in the bigger tournaments in 2026.

Since the beginning of last year, you have also made significant gains in your singles rankings (He is currently World No. 66). You became the National Champion. You just won a WTT Feeder event in Vadodara as well. Can you share how you have improved in singles?

The credit goes to my team. My team includes my mentor, Sharath bhaiya (five-time Olympian Sharath Kamal). We are in constant touch wherever I am and wherever he is. He guides me and provides feedback on my matches. Also, I have my coach (Yin Wei) in Czechia. He’s a Chinese guy. He helped me in correcting my footwork and other skill-based developments. My mental trainer, Gayatri Ma’am (Gayatri Vartak-Madkekar), is just a phone call away if there is any difficulty from a mental perspective.

How to deal with match pressure and how training and preparation should be for any elite athlete going into the competition period is something that we are working on right now. My physical fitness coach, Manav Mukund. He’s a part of my strength and conditioning team. My physio Venkatesh Sir (Venkatesh Kumar). I’m very happy and grateful for them and their support, which is always there for me, even in my ups and downs. And recently, I have been in good shape. So, the success belongs to them as much as it does to me.

Your mixed doubles partnership with Diya Chitale has been one of the major highlights in recent times. You made history by becoming the first Indian pair to qualify for the WTT Finals last year. This season, you already have a title (WTT Contender Muscat). Have you guys set any goals for yourselves for 2026?

Diya and I have been playing together for quite some time. Our level has increased with both of us playing many international tournaments which has helped us in gaining more experience and learnings which we are taking in an individual way. And when it comes to mixed doubles, we are putting it together. We decided that the WTT Finals was a stepping stone, not the final step. It was something where we gained a lot of belief because we played against one of the strongest pairs in the world.

One was the Olympic champion (China’s Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha). One was World No. 1 (China’s Lin Shidong and Kuai Man). And one was the local favorite (Hong Kong’s Wong Chun Ting and Doo Hoi Kem). It was very difficult for us to play these three matches but at the same time, we played really well.

So, the WTT finals was something that both of us and Max (Indian head coach Massimo Costantini) were looking forward to. When we went there, we understood that it’s about 5000 people against the three of us. It was an amazing experience to play in front of such an enthusiastic crowd. At the same time, we knew that we were underdogs and if we go there and create chances for ourselves, there is a possibility that we get close and maybe, the next time when we play them, we have a better strategy and create a good chance for ourselves to beat them as well.

Irrespective of the result, we learned quite a few things. We have plans to create further history and also win medals. As I mentioned earlier, in bigger tournaments, we are yet to create that momentum for ourselves. So, we would like to do that in 2026.

In a previous conversation with Sportstar, Diya said you guys need to work on the short game to compete better against the best in the world. Have you done any special drills to improve that area of your game?

We are working on a lot of things because as you grow higher in the rankings, there are more videos of you playing on YouTube. Other pairs, who are going to compete against us, can easily watch us play. So, we need to cover our weaknesses.

At the same time, we need to make sure that we implement our strengths so that we have more chances of dominating since we will be the higher-ranked pair when we play in a regular WTT tournament. The improvements are constant with the help of individual coaches and Massimo, who has played a very vital role in our mixed doubles career so far. Of course, as we grow older, we become more mature and we understand the mixed doubles game better.

It’s a significant year with World Team Championships, Asian Games and Mixed Team World Cup all set to be held. How is your preparation for such a schedule?

Definitely, a very important year like any other year. Instead of tough, I would say that we are privileged to be playing these bigger tournaments where we have a chance to prove ourselves and at the same time, create history for the country. The first step would be the World Team championships (April 28-May 10). Men’s and women’s teams would be playing differently, so it’s a different aspect altogether. At the same time, all five members of the team will like to be in the best shape and form possible so that it’s always a guessing game for the opponent.

Now, we are slowly stepping into the phase where we are not exactly targeting the Olympic Games, but at least keeping an eye on them because that is something where we all ultimately want to perform well. There are the steps which are going to help us reach that ultimate goal of performing well at the Olympics. The World Championship, the Asian Games and the mixed World Cup will be playing these roles, where we play at bigger tournaments with the best players in the world under the best circumstances. We want to perform there well so that we know and we can realistically say that we have a fair chance of winning a medal at the Olympics.

Published on Feb 10, 2026