Topping the pre-seeding on entry points are Monika Paulikiene & Aine Raupelyte, who represented Lithuania at this year’s Olympic Games. They are looking for their second Challenge-level medal, after making the Recife podium with bronze earlier this year.
Three-time Olympian and Tokyo 2020 silver medallist Taliqua Clancy will once again compete alongside Georgia Johnson. The Australian pair made their Beach Pro Tour debut as a team last week at the Haikou Challenge in China, where they finished seventh.
The two duos that represented hosts France at the Paris 2024 women’s tournament are also making their way from Haikou to Chennai. While Clemence Vieira & Aline Chamereau are pre-seeded to compete in the main draw, their compatriots Lezana Placette & Alexia Richard, who started from the qualifications in Haikou and made it all the way to the podium with bronze, will once again have to go through the qualifier grind in India.
The same applies to USA’s Molly Shaw & Toni Rodriguez, who also made their way from the qualifiers to the silver medal in Haikou.
Reigning U21 world champion Desy Poiesz of the Netherlands will hit the sand in Chennai, in a duo with Lisa Luini. Previous U21 world champion Tetiana Lazarenko of Ukraine will also be in India, competing alongside Maryna Hladun.
The women’s entry list features a number of other well-known names as well, like Finland’s Taru Lahti-Liukkonen & Niina Ahtiainen, Netherlands’ Emi van Driel & Wies Bekhuis or Austria’s Lena Plesiutschnig & Katharina Schutzenhofer, to name a few.
Chennai Challenge action will get underway with the women’s qualifiers on Thursday morning at 08:00 local time (02:30 UTC).
