The in-form G Sathiyan has surpassed the legendary Sharath Kamal to be India’s highest- ranked player in the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) rankings, which also have an unprecedented nine players in the top-100.
Sathiyan, who was nowhere near the top-100 bracket until a few months ago, is the leader today at world No. 49, thus pushing Kamal to the second spot at 51. They are followed by Soumyajit Ghosh (58), Harmeet Desai (60), Sanil Shetty (68) and Anthony Amalraj (87).
As for the women, Manika Batra is topping the world chart among Indians at 62, while Mouma Das (74) and Madhurika Patkar (81) trail the leader.
The ITTF rankings have undergone a change after the new system was approved in September 2017. The new simplified and comprehensive system provides for a more dynamic world ranking based on paddlers’ performance and results during the entire year.
In addition, the system also encourages players to participate in more and more events rather than being inactive, affecting the individuals rankings.
In under-18 boys, Manav Thakkar at 18 is followed by Manush Shah at No.47 while Snehit Surravajjula is placed at No.64.
In the girls’ section, three Indians – Archana Kamath at No.34, Selenadeepthi Selvakumar at No.95 and Yashini Sivashankar at No.99 have made it in the top 100.
In junior boys, Jeho Himnakulhpuingheta is placed at No. 52, followed by Payas Jain at No.74 and Yashansh Malik at No. 85.
In junior girls category Diya at No.21 is way ahead of the two compatriots Anusha Kutumbale and Vanshika Bhargava who sit on No.63 and No.70 respectively.
