Table Tennis: Manika Batra slips to three-year low in world rankings

Indian women's singles paddler Manika Batra fell to a three-year low in the latest table tennis rankings released on Tuesday.

The 29-year-old Batra slipped down by 16 places in the latest rankings and is now placed 46th in the world. The last time she was ranked this low was back in April 2022 when she was placed 48th in the world.

Batra falls comes after a string of not-so-great performances in recent past. This includes a 2-3 loss at the hands of the reigning national champion Diya Chitale at the WTT Star Contender in Tunis last month.

Batra's poor run of form doesn't augur well for India with the 2025 World Table Tennis Championships just days away.

Batra's fall in the rankings mean that Sreeja Akula, despite not being in great touch herself, is now India's highest ranked women's singles paddler. She is currently ranked 34th.

However, in encouraging signs for India, the younger lot of Yashashwini Ghorpade, Chitale, and Asian games bronze medallist Ayhika Mukherjee attained career best rankings in women's singles.

While Mukherjee is placed 69th in the world, Ghorpade slots in seven places behind at 76. Chitale is 12 spots further down at 88.

In men's singles rankings, Manav Thakkar continues to be the only Indian in top-50. He is placed 49th.

Thakkar is also ranked in top-10 of the men's doubles rankings with Manush Shah. At world No 9, the Thakkar-Shah duo are the only Indians to be in top-10 table tennis world rankings across disciplines.