Indian table tennis player Manika Batra has risen to a career-high world ranking of No. 24 in the women’s singles division, marking the first time in history that an Indian woman has cracked the top 25.
She has now tied Sathiyan Gnanasekaran’s record for India’s highest singles rank. Batra was incredibly proud and determined to see her efforts pay off in time for the forthcoming Olympics.
With a strong showing in the Saudi Smash event, where she defeated top-ranked opponents like Wang Manyu and Nina Mittelham to get to the quarterfinals and become the first Indian woman to do so in a WTT Grand Smash event, her ranking shot up. Additionally, she has regained the top spot among Indian women players, which was previously held by Sreeja Akula, who is currently ranked 41st.
With Archana Kamath, Batra set a milestone for any Indian in table tennis in 2022 by placing fourth in the women’s doubles.
Among the men’s singles leaders are Sharath Kamal, Manav Thakkar, and Harmeet Desai. Ayhika Mukherjee and Sutirtha Mukherjee rose to 13th place in the women’s doubles, while Manav Thakkar and Manush Shah ranked 15th.
Batra and Sathiyan dropped to 24th place, while Harmeet Desai and Yashaswini Ghorpade rose to 38th place.
