Sharath Kamal continues to be top-ranked Indian table tennis player, Sathiyan moves to World No. 60
In the latest ITTF rankings, four Indian men’s players are in top 100; Manika Batra and Archana Kamath only Indian women in top 100
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Indian paddlers Achanta Sharath Kamal and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran continue to be India’s top-ranked table tennis players in the latest ITTF World Rankings, released on Tuesday.
Sharath Kamal, who had a humongous leap when the rankings were released last, is now the top-ranked Indian at World No. 35, while Sathiyan, fresh from his WTT title in Beirut, is now ranked 60 in the world.
Sathiyan was once India’s top-ranked player at World No. 24 but dropped out of the top 100 recently. The title in Beirut earned him 125 points, which helped him leapfrog almost 43 places in the rankings. The world title is also Sathiyan’s first in three years, with his last singles title at an international event coming in 2021, when he triumphed in the ITTF Czech Open.
Meanwhile, Manika Batra is the top-ranked Indian women’s player at World No. 38, while Sreeja Akula has attained a career-high World No. 40. Akula’s rise in the rankings comes after a string of successful tournaments that culminated in a title-winning WTT Feeder Series in Beirut.
Along with Sathiyan and Sharath, Manav Thakkar and Harmeet Desai are also in the top 100 in the world. While Manav is ranked 63 in the world, Harmeet is ranked 67. Manav has also been stitching some good performances in the recent past and reached the men’s doubles final, partnering Manush Shah, in the WTT Feeder tournament last week. In the men’s singles event, Manav lost to Sathiyan in the final.
In the women’s singles, apart from Manika Batra, only Archana Kamath is in the top 100 in the world. The young Bengaluru-born player is currently ranked 99th in the world.
The rise in global rankings couldn't have been more timely for Indian table tennis stars, with the Paris 2024 Olympics on the horizon. The Indian men’s and women’s teams have already qualified for the team events at the Olympics, while the two men’s and women’s singles players will be decided in May. The world rankings will be taken into account when the men’s and women’s singles players for the Olympics are announced.
