After winning first ITTF title in 10 years, Achanta Sharath Kamal becomes highest-ranked Indian at World No 31

New Delhi: Veteran table tennis player Sharath Kamal on Thursday surpassed compatriot G Sathiyan to become the highest-ranked Indian in the ITTF world rankings, jumping seven spots to reach 31. [caption id=“attachment_8154031” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Sharath Kamal in action during the Oman Open. Image courtesy: ITTF[/caption] The jump in the rankings comes after Sharath’s triumph at the Oman Open last month when he won his first ITTF title in 10 years. “Some positive news, amidst all the negativity currently (due to the COVID-19 pandemic). Feels great actually. Just the news I needed while I find myself away from the game during this lockdown,” an elated Sharath said. His younger teammate Sathiyan dropped a place to be 32. The fast-rising Mudit Dani also made notable progress in the rankings as he broke into the top-200 for the first time in his career. Dani took a jump of nine places to claim the 200th position while Harmeet Desai (72), Anthony Amalraj (100) and Manav Thakkar (139) are the other Indian paddlers who have positioned themselves in the top-200. In the women’s rankings, Manika Batra is in the 63rd position while Sutirtha Mukherjee entered the top-100 for the first time. She jumped 14 spots to be 95th. The ITTF rankings will now be frozen until the start of events. The ITTF has suspended all its events until 30 June due to the COVID-19 pandemic.