'It is indeed a very proud moment for me,' Manika Batra reacts after reaching world no 24 in latest ITTF rankings

Batra became the first Indian paddler to achieve under 25 rankings.

Indian table tennis star Manika Batra has stamped her name into the history books, becoming the first Indian woman to break into the top #25 of the world rankings. The 28-year-old paddler achieved a career-high ranking of world no. #24 in the latest International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) rankings released on Tuesday.

Batra’s meteoric rise up the rankings comes on the back of her sterling performance at the recent Saudi Smash tournament in Jeddah. The Commonwealth Games gold medalist jumped an impressive 15 spots from 39th after reaching the quarterfinals of the prestigious event.

En route to the last eight, Batra pulled off two huge upsets – first shocking world no. #2 Wang Manyu of China in the round of 32, and then ousting world no. #14 Nina Mittelham of Germany in the pre-quarterfinals. Her run was finally halted by world no. #5 Hina Hayata of Japan in the quarterfinals.

Batra also created history by becoming the first Indian singles player, male or female, to reach the quarterfinals of a WTT Grand Smash event. Her success in Jeddah earned her a massive 350 ranking points.

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Reacting to her historic achievement, an elated Batra said, “It is indeed a very proud moment for me. To break into the top 25 and achieve my career-best ranking just months before the Olympic Games is definitely a very potent boost to my preparations.

“I am truly honored to have achieved this feat and it is incredibly fulfilling to see all my hard work and efforts pay off. As I look ahead to Paris 2024, I’m motivated more than ever to continue this performance and move upwards in the ranking to make my country proud,” the Khel Ratna awardee added.

Batra has now equaled the highest ever ranking achieved by an Indian in singles, matching G Sathiyan’s world no. #24 mark attained in 2019. She has also regained her no. 1 ranking among Indian women, displacing Sreeja Akula who had briefly taken over the top spot last month.

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