Vadodara, Jan. 2 -- Defending champion Divyanshi Bhowmik, Syndrela Das, Japan's Miku Matsushima and rising star Tanishka Kalbhairav kicked off their U-17 girls singles campaign in the WTT Youth Contender 2026 with comfortable wins in the group stage at the SAMA Indoor Stadium on Friday.

The second edition of WTT Youth Contender, which kicked off on Friday, features competitions from U-11 to U-19, with the U-13 and U-17 boys and girls in action on the opening day, according to a release.

Divyanshi, who had won both the U-15 and U-17 girls singles titles last year, opened her campaign by blanking compatriot Neeza Kamat 11-4, 11-1, 11-2 in the Group 1 opener, while Syndrela defeated Tania Karmakar 11-6, 11-6, 11-2 in Group 3.

Japan's Mats...