India’s historic campaign at the WTT Star Contender Foz do Iguaçu 2025 ended with a bittersweet finish in the men’s doubles final, where Manav Thakkar and Manush Shah ended as runners-up on Saturday.

The top-seeded Indian pair, ranked World No. 10, went down 2-3 in a tightly fought final against the second-seeded German duo of Benedikt Duda and Dang Qiu. Despite the defeat, the performance marked a major breakthrough, the first time two Indian doubles teams have reached a final at a WTT Star Contender event.

Manav and Manush entered the tournament as strong contenders and lived up to their billing with impressive performances throughout. Their campaign began with a 3-1 win over Japan’s Satoshi Aida and Mizuki Oikawa. They then overcame a strong French challenge, defeating Florian Bourrassaud and Lilian Bardet in a five-game quarterfinal. In the semifinals, they held off the Chinese Taipei pair of Huang Yan-Cheng and Kuo Guan-Hong in another five-game battle to enter the final.

While the final didn’t go in India’s favour, the result stands as a testament to India’s rising stature in world table tennis.

Meanwhile, the mixed doubles campaign is still alive, top seeds Manush Shah and Diya Chitale are set to play their final later today. The duo, currently World No. 10, reached the summit clash after dominating Chilean opponents in both the quarterfinals and semifinals.

The Indian pair will now face Japan’s surprise qualifiers Satoshi Aida and Honoka Hashimoto in what promises to be another landmark match for Indian table tennis.