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Manav Thakkar Tops U-18 Table Tennis Rankings

Published 02/02/2018, 4:14 PM EST

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17-year old Manav Thakkar created history as he became the first Indian table tennis player to top the U-18 world rankings. Thakkar toppled China’s Wang Chuqin for the number one spot. Meanwhile Indian-origin American player Kanak Jha sealed third spot. Last month, the Surat-born lad rose to No. 2 with a total of 6,396 points at the end of January. All this was according to the International Table Tennis Federation rankings. Manav said, “It’s a great feeling and I’m unable to express it in words.”

He is currently preparing for the ITTF World Junior Circuit Finals in Luxembourg. Thakkar said “I never thought of becoming No 1 so soon. But when I broke into the top five, my confidence grew and I started believing that [the top spot] was achievable. I am thankful to my first coach Vahed Malubhai, Gujarat Table Tennis Association, PSPB, GoSports Foundation and all the people who supported me.”

via Imago

Thakkar broke into the table tennis scene at a very young age. Since then, his rise has been meteoric and there has been no stopping him. Thakkar has numerous accolades and records to his name. Namely, youngest player to bag a triple crown in state meets [cadet, sub-junior and junior] in 2010. He also became the U-12 national champion in 2011.

Meanwhile, Selenadeepthi Selvakumar jumped several places to No. 5 after winning gold at the Egypt Open last week. This made life a little difficult for Archana Girish Kamath, who has to complete the two-continent criteria.

Archana, a runner-up at the Belgrade Open, will participate in the India Junior and Cadet Open at Greater Noida. She will also compete in the Portugal Open next month to make it to the top 16 of the list. Thakkar and Archana Kamath are members of the “ITTF With the Future in Mind” programme for Youth Olympics at Buenos Aires next year.

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Dhruv George

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Dhruv George is a senior Formula One and NASCAR analyst for EssentiallySports, having authored nearly 12000 articles spanning different sports like F1, NASCAR, Tennis, NFL, and eSports. He graduated with a PG Diploma in Journalism from the Xavier Institute of Communications. Dhruv has also conducted interviews with F1 driver Pierre Gasly and Moto2 rider Tony Arbolino.
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