The year 2026 may well be declared as Year of Glory for Sports in Tamil Nadu! Remarkable achievements on the world stage by a few young talents have made it so. First, it was Chennai – India’s cradle of chess with Vaishali one of the chess sport’s siblings qualifying as the Challenger to the reigning women’s world champion. She achieved this with a commanding performance at the Challenger tournament held biennially. Next, her younger brother R. Praggnanandhaa created a sensation by emerging as the first Indian Grand Master to capture the title at the prestigious Norway Chess 2026 tournament at Oslo and going on to put up another sterling performance at the Grand Chess Tour. Leading the points table till the penultimate game, Pragg slipped to be held to a draw in the decisive final game against Wesley So to finish runner-up in the Sinquefield Cup competition. Pragg, who defeated the world championship challenger J Sindorov of Uzbekistan in this competition, however, qualified for the final of the world chess tour and went on to become the first Indian to win the Grand Chess Tour title defeating G.M. Fabiano Carua 15-13, fighting back after trailing by six points before the title clash began at St. Louis in the US.
That was not all for TN sport! What made this sporting state’s cup of joy full was the great show at the Glasgow city Commonwealth Games (CWG) by three young Tamil Nadu sportsmen – a promising badminton player, and two athletes – one excelling in the long jump event and the other a weightlifter.
K.J. Suhaas is an emerging junior badminton player from Tamil Nadu. In 2026, he made headlines by reaching the final of the YONEX All England Junior Badminton Championships, one of the most prestigious junior events globally. His performance is testimony that Tamil Nadu has been producing strong shuttlers through the Junior Badminton League and TNBA development programmes in Chennai. Suhaas is based in Pallavaram, Chennai and his run in the national and state-level competitions reflect his depth in the singles.
Talking to Madras Musings, his father Karthik, who is employed in International Sales, Royal Enfield company, tells us that Suhaas started playing badminton when he was seven years old. As he developed into a competitive player, he gained recognition in Chennai’s badminton circuit by winning tournaments and gaining strength technically. In 2021, Suhaas decided to take to badminton professionally and is currently training under the Elite programme at the Myndz Badminton Academy in Chennai. The boy’s journey in the sport has been marked by steady progress in performance and fitness. As a Khelo India Games participant in the Under 17 and Under 19 sections, Suhaas aims to represent the country in international level tournaments in the coming seasons. According to Karthik, it is his son’s goal to win a medal in Badminton at the Olympic Games in 2032.
Suhaas’s current national ranking in the Under 17 Singles is Number 5, at the State level it is Number 7, and in the Under 19 age group, he is ranked Number 3. His climb up the ladder began with a hat trick of titles in the Chennai District Championship in 2022. Between 2024 and 2026 he made a name for himself in the Tamil Nadu State Sub Junior and Under 17 Championships, Tamil Nadu State Junior and Under 17 championships and in three editions of All India Sub junior ranking tournaments. He won the Silver at the YONEX All England Junior Badminton Championships 2026 after losing the final to fellow Indian Sai Bhatraju. Following his brilliant show at the All England Junior championships this year, Suhaas is seeking corporate sponsorship to help him compete at the international level in various competitions and realising his Olympic medal dream.
The Tamil Nadu weightlifter Muthupandi Raja was born at Kovilpatti, in Thoothukudi district. He competes in the 65 kg category. This year at Glasgow, Raja won the Silver in the men’s 65 kg category at the Commonwealth Games. He totaled 286 kg – 126 kg in snatch and 160 kg in clean & jerk. Malaysia’s Aznil Bidin took gold with a Games record of 299 kg.
Raja took to weightlifting at age 12, trained at an SAI centre from 2014, and was coached by Vijay Sharma since 2016. He works with Indian Railways since 2018. After a career-threatening elbow ligament tear in 2019, he came back to win the silver at the 2025 Commonwealth Championships, finished ninth at Worlds with a personal best (PB) 299 kg, and clinched the 2026 senior national title.
Tamil Nadu’s Triple Jumper Praveen Chitravel is the state’s leading triple jumper. He is a multiple national champion and has represented India at the World Championships. He trains in Chennai with SDATN coach Indira, and is known for his consistency over 16.50 m p+ and for being part of India’s relay and field-event core. At the 2026 CWG, he jumped 16.58 m to win the Silver medal in the men’s section.
Another Tamil Nadu Triple Jumper is Praveen Selva or Selva Prabhu Thirumaran in the CWG squad, who has been a Junior Under 20 athlete. At the Commonwealth Games, Selva Prabhu jumped to his season’s best of 16.52 m and picked up the Bronze.
All the Tamil Nadu medal winners in the Commonwealth Games 2026, have been lauded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well as by the Tamil Nadu Government and Chief Minister Joseph Vijay, who also honoured them with cash awards.
Tamil Nadu’s surge in the world of sports showcases more emerging stars. Neil Samraj, a 17-year-old athlete has bagged the Youth Under 18 100m crown at the National Youth Athletics championships in Ludhiana, on September 1, 2026. While emerging the victor, Neil Samraj broke the youth Under 18 national record twice. He clocked 1046 seconds in the final and bagged the Gold. His feat came after his participation in the World U 20 championships the week before. “The experience gained at the world U 20 competition helped me in the race in the national competition,” he observed. He shaved 0.17 seconds off the standing national record held by Anshu Rajak since 2023. He attributes his success to his coach Velmurugan under whom he trains. Samraj took up athletics as his sport while studying in Class 9 in school.
At the Ludhiana nationals, one more future star seemed to be emerging from Tamil Nadu – T Mrithika, who broke the meet record while winning the 100 m title clocking 11.78 seconds.