The Indian table tennis duo of Manav Thakkar and Manush Shah have made a significant jump in the latest ITTF world rankings, soaring to the 11th position in the men’s doubles category. This impressive ascent is a direct result of their strong performance at the recently concluded China Smash tournament in Beijing.
Thakkar and Shah, seeded eighth, received a bye in the opening round and went on to defeat the Chilean pair of Nicolas Burgos and Gustavo Gomez in the second round, securing a 3-1 victory. However, their journey ended in the quarterfinals with a 1-3 loss to the fourth-seeded Chinese duo of Liang Jingkun and Wang Chuqin, who ultimately claimed the tournament title. Despite the defeat, the quarterfinal finish was enough to propel Thakkar and Shah five spots up the rankings.
Meanwhile, in the men’s singles category, experienced campaigner Sharath Kamal slipped four places to 42nd after a first-round exit at the China Smash. Other Indian singles players, Manav Thakkar (60th), G. Sathiyan (68th), and Harmeet Desai (91st) also experienced a dip in the rankings.
In the women’s singles, Sreeja Akula and Manika Batra faced early exits at the China Smash, with both players losing in the first round. As a result, Sreeja dropped three spots to 26th, while Manika slipped one place to 29th.
On a positive note, Yashaswini Ghorpade, who finished as runner-up at a WTT Feeder event in Doha, made a significant jump of six places in the rankings, moving up to 81st.
In women’s doubles, Ayhika and Sutirtha Mukherjee rose one spot to 15th after reaching the round of 16 in Beijing.
With the Asian Championships in Astana kicking off this week, the Indian paddlers will have another opportunity to showcase their skills and further climb the world rankings.
