Manav Thakkar reaches career-high of World No. 47 after horic WTT Star Contender Chennai

India’s Manav Thakkar has stormed into the ITTF World Rankings Top 50 for the first time, moving up 16 points to secure a career-best No. 47 spot after his horic performance at the WTT Star Contender in Chennai last week.
Adding to the wave of Indian breakthroughs, Snehit Suravajjula made his own mark breaking into the Top 100, securing the No. 89 spot after having a breakthrough tournament himself in Chennai. Snehit’s performance however did come with an emotional footnote. In what felt like a symbolic passing of the torch, Snehit defeated table tennis legend 42-year-old Sharath Kamal in what was the veteran’s final competitive match.
Sharath, India’s most decorated paddler, bid farewell to the sport ranked World No. 80.
Story continues below this ad

All eyes were on the rankings this week, knowing that Manav was set to make giant strides after reaching the men’s singles semifinal in Chennai. Facing off against Thibault Poret of France, Manav fought hard but fell 3-1 in a gripping contest. The 24-year-old lost 12-10, 11-9, 7-11, 11-7 against his French opponent.
He also became the first Indian men’s player to reach the semifinals of a WTT Star Contender event, achieving the best-ever result an Indian in any World Table Tennis tournament tier.
© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd

Expand