Manush Shah and Diya Chitale Create History with First Indian Mixed Doubles Grand Smash Semi-Final

Manush Shah and Diya Chitale reached the semi-finals of the WTT China Smash in Beijing, the first Indian mixed doubles pair to get that far at a Grand Smash. Their run ended on Thursday with a 1-3 loss to Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yun-ju and Cheng I-ching, the seventh seeds, by 7-11, 11-9, 10-12, 4-11.

Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yun-ju and Cheng I-ching defeated Manush Shah and Diya Chitale in the China Smash semi-finals.

India’s Manush Shah and Diya Chitale Reach Historic China Smash Semi-Final

The Indian pair were fifth seeds. On Wednesday they beat Romania’s Eduard Ionescu and Bernadette Szocs 11-9, 13-11, 11-3 in the quarter-final. In the semi, they took the second game and lost the third on a 12-10 finish.

Manush Shah and Diya Chitale celebrate their quarter-final victory at the WTT China Smash.

Their previous best at a Grand Smash was the quarter-final, which they reached at the 2025 Singapore Smash and the 2025 United States Smash. They went out in the round of 16 at last year’s China Smash. This year they won the Lagos Contender in May and a bronze medal at the Asian Games on September 25, where they lost 0-4 to Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha in the semi-final.

Manush Shah Advances in Men’s Doubles as Diya Chitale Exits Women’s Doubles

China Smash is the fourth and last Grand Smash of the 2026 season.

Shah is still in the draw. With Manav Thakkar, the second seeds in men’s doubles, he plays a semi-final on Friday against South Korea’s Lim Jong-hoon and Oh Jun-sung. Diya Chitale and Yashaswini Ghorpade lost in the women’s doubles round of 16, 2-3, to China’s Gao Yuxin and Xiang Junlin.