Jha and Botha Advance to Men's Doubles Semifinals
Share:
by Joshua Dyke| USA Table Tennis
Kanak Jha and Bosman Botha ready for the return during the men's doubles quarterfinals at the 2026 U.S. National Table Tennis Championships in San Jose, Calif. July 6, 2026. (Photo by Rich London/USATT)
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Kanak Jha and Bosman Botha advanced to the men's doubles semifinals, marking Jha's first U.S. Nationals doubles appearance since his 2019 men's doubles title.
“It's exciting to play doubles events. It’s my first doubles in some years, so we’re just trying to enjoy it together,” said Jha following the quarterfinal victory.
The pair defeated Darryl Tsao and Victor Xie 3-0 (11-4, 11-9, 11-8). Botha credited Jha's technical skill and compact playing style with giving him more space to attack.
“He brings such a great attitude and always shows so much respect to everyone, even the opponents,” said Botha. “It's clear he thought a lot about the match and the strategy we wanted to carry out.”
“It's really motivating when I see my partner working so hard and it makes me want to do even better,” added Botha.
In the semifinals, they'll face defending champions Nandan Naresh and Daniel Tran. Tran and Naresh moved past Wenzhang Tao and Peter Scheuer 3-1 (11-3, 11-5, 9-11, 13-11).
While the men's doubles field narrowed to four teams, mixed doubles competition also got underway with the Round of 16.
Top-seeded Jishan Liang and Sally Moyland entered the tournament as favorites after reaching the quarterfinals at the 2026 U.S. Smash, where they upset Singapore's Koen Pang and Jian Zeng and India's world No. 6-ranked pair, Manush Shah and Diya Chitale.
Moyland is aiming for her third mixed doubles title and a second consecutive championship in San Jose.
Liang and Moyland face Bosman Botha and Amy Wang with a semifinal berth on the line.
