Manika Batra reaches career-high of 24 in World Ranking, first woman paddler in India

Kolkata: Manika Batra touched a new height, jumping 15 places to be World No. 24, according to the latest ITTF Rankings.

Thus, Manika became the first woman paddler in the country to reach a new peak in her career graph, etching her name in the history book.

Before entering the Saudi Smash last week, Manika was No. 39 and a spot behind Sreeja Akula. But her stellar performance in Jeddah, where she reached the quarterfinals, changed the equation and placed the Delhi woman in an enviable position.

Incidentally, this was precisely the highest-ranking position (No. 24) that G. Sathiyan held for a few months in 2019, to be the top-ranked Indian in the world then.

For the records, Manika stunned world No. 2 and Olympic medallist Wang Manyu of China before outshining world No. 14 Nina Mittelham of Germany. Eventually, she lost to world No. 4 Hina Hayata of Japan in the quarterfinals.

But A. Sharath Kamal slipped three places while holding on to his status as the highest-ranked Indian at No. 40. Manav Thakkar and Harmeet Desai occupy the 62nd and 63rd positions, respectively.

The women's doubles pair of Sutirtha Mukherjee and Ayhika Mukherjee climbed to the 13th spot even as Manav and Manush Shah dropped three places and placed 15th in the men’s doubles category.

In mixed doubles, the duo of Manika and Sathiyan holds steady at the 24th spot, despite slipping one position.