Manika Batra/36th National Games
Manika Batra moved up a further two spots in the latest International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) world rankings on Tuesday to reach a career-best 33rd in women’s singles.
The rise comes on the back of an impressive outing at the WTT Contender Doha last week where Manika Batra reached the semi-finals. During the tournament, the Indian TT star upset world No. 17 Chen Szu-Yu of Chinese Taipei in the opener.
Batra then registered wins against Koreans Joo Cheonhui and Choi Hyojoo in the next two rounds before falling to Zhang Rui of China in the semis.
At the Asian Cup in November, where Manika Batra claimed a historic medal for India. She defeated the world No. 6 Hina Hayata (Japan) and world No. 7 Chen Xingtong (China) to win the bronze medal.
Manika became the first Indian woman table tennis player to medal at the continental event and only the second Indian to achieve the feat. Chetan Baboor won a silver in 1997 and a bronze in 2000.
Tokyo 2020 women’s single champion Chen Meng was second in the latest table tennis rankings while silver medallist Sun Yingsha took the top spot.
The 27-year-old Manika Batra entered the top 50 in the TT world rankings in February last year and remained in the 30s and 40s throughout the year.
Apart from the Asian Cup high last year, Manika Batra had a difficult season. She made the semi-final of just one event and quarter-finals of two tournaments, including the Commonwealth Games 2022.
Manika Batra, however, had an impressive campaign in the mixed doubles as she entered the finals of two events – WTT Contender Doha and WTT Contender Nova Gorica – with partner Sathiyan Gnanasekaran.
The Manika-Sathiyan duo dropped a place to sixth spot in the latest ITTF mixed doubles rankings.
Meanwhile, G Sathiyan remained India’s top-ranked men’s singles table tennis player at world No. 40, dropping one spot, while national champion Sharath Kamal gained one place to 46th.
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