Table Tennis: India
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2015
Commonwealth Table Tennis Championship
A record medals haul
The Times of India Dec 21 2015
Shweta Singh
Surat
An impressive performance on Sunday ensured that India will end the 20th Commonwealth Table Tennis Championship with their best-ever medal haul in the competition. In the mixed doubles event, the hosts recorded a first when the pair of G Sathiyan and Ankita Das got past compatriots Soumyajit Ghosh and Mouma Das 3-1 to capture India's maiden gold in the event. The bronze was also won by India. The hosts have ensured as many as 16 medals, their highest-ever in CW TT beating nine which they got from the 2013 edition of the games in Delhi. Five Indian paddlers -Soumyajit, Anthony Amalraj, Sanil, Manika and Mouma Das -are certain of returning home with individual medals.
While in the men's doubles, four Indian pairs, -Harmeet DesaiGhosh, Abhishek Yadav-Sudhanshu Grover, Amalraj-Shetty and Sathiyan-Devesh, ensured that four more medals add to India's tally . In women's doubles, two Indian pairs, K Shamini-Mouma, Ankita-Manika, stormed their way into the semifinals to ensure at least a bronze.
India now have gold and silver in team's men and women's events, three medals in mixed doubles and with 11 still waiting in the wings, the tally touches a massive 16.
In men's singles quarters, world No. 95 Ghosh made easy work of Scotland's Gavin Rumgay in four straight games to sail in the semifinals where he will play world No. 176 Chen Feng of Singapore who accounted for Ghosh's compatriot G Sathiyan 11-13, 11-9, 7-11, 10-12, 11-4, 5-11.
In an all-Indian quarterfinals, qualifer Sanil Shetty broke the hearts of Surtis when he came from behind to upset local lad and fourth seed Harmeet Desai 9-11, 4-11, 11-9, 711, 11-8, 11-9, 11-5. Both the players displayed an array of forehand topspin shots from back of the table but in the end the southpaw Shetty prevailed over a nervous-looking Desai.
The other quarterfinals saw yet another all-India clash in which Amalraj defeated Abhishek Yadav.
Mouma, Manika assured of medal: Two Indian women Mouma Das and Manika Batra assured themselves of at least a bronze medal by reaching the semifinals. India No. 2 Mouma had a tough time against Pooja Sahasrabudhe who stretched her compatriot all the way . There was little to chose between the two girls but in the decider, Mouma's massive experience was too much for Pooja to handle.
India bag 16 medals in all
The Times of IndiaDec 22 2015
ShwetaSingh
It was a befitting Commonwealth Table Tennis Championship final in which Cheng Feng was made to work hard by India's Anthony Amalraj before the Singaporean could win the men's singles title here on Monday .
Amalraj's silver helped the Indian contingent clinch their best-ever medal haul of 16 including three gold, six silver and seven bronze in the tournament. India's highest tally before this was nine which the hosts managed in New Delhi in 2013. Singapore topped the medals tally with four gold medals and a team bronze.
2017
==Senior Table Tennis Nationals: 2017: Sharath, Madhurika top Kamal wins 7th national crown, Feb 6, 2017: The Times of India
Sharath had won his maiden title at Manesar nationals 13 years ago when Haryana had hosted the event in 2003.
Veteran Achanta Sharath Kamal bagged his seventh national crown in men's singles, while Madhurika Patkar became the champion for the first time in the women's singles at the 11Even Sports Senior Table Tennis Nationals.
In the men's singles final, a visibly tired Sharath beat an equal ly weary Soumyajit Ghosh 4-2 to clinch the title at the Manesar Sports Club here.
Madhurika downed six-time national champion Poulo mi Ghatak 4-0 in the women's singles final.
Sharath and Madhurika's efforts fetched them Rs. 2.2 lakh and Rs. 1.2 lakh, respectively. The confidence that Sharath had gained in the semifinals against fifth-seed Harmeet Desai had done a world of good as he went into the final against the two-time champion Ghosh.
South Asian Junior Table Tennis Championships
India win 10 gold in junior TT event, May 22, 2017: The Times of India
India added six more gold on the concluding day to win all 10 gold medals on offer in the South Asian Junior Table Tennis Championships at Mount Lavinia, near Colombo.
They also claimed four silver medals for a total of 14 medals from the regional championships. After winning four gold medals in team events on the first two days of the three-day championships, the Indian paddlers continued their domination in two doubles events and followed them up with gold in all singles.
World rankings and India: 2017: Three Indians in top 100
Three Indian paddlers in top 100, May 4, 2017: The Times of India
Harmeet Desai has joined his India teammates, Sharath Kamal and Soumyajit Ghosh, by breaking the top-100 barrier to touch a career high 95 in the latest table tennis world rankings.
This is the first time ever that three Indians figure in top-100 of ITTF rankings.With his sterling show at the Wuxi Asian Championships, Harmeet moved five places ahead after being at No. 100 on the men's ranking list.
Sharath is still the top-ran ked Indian at No. 54 while Ghosh, despite winning the Chile Open on Sunday , made a small jump ahead, moving to 83 from 84. But the worst sufferer is Manika Batra who, from world No. 93, has been pushed to No. 103.
2018
Asian Junior, Cadet Championships
Manav Thakkar bags two bronze at Asian Junior TT, August 19, 2018: The Times of India
India’s junior paddlers, led by World No 5 Manav Thakkar, bagged three medals at the Asian Junior and Cadet Championships in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar. In the doubles, the duo of Manav and Manush Shah won bronze. Manav then paired up with Archana Kamath to win his second bronze in the mixed doubles.
Indian presence in the world arena
Ayaz Memon, June 15, 2018: The Times of India
( Ayaz Memon is a prominent sports writer, journalist, columnist, author and lawyer)
India’s unprecedented successes at the 2018 CWG could be a turning point for table tennis in the country. Eight medals overall (3 gold, 2 silver, 3 bronze) – the most for India in any sport — is a fantastic harvest.
This was something that nobody would have anticipated. In hindsight, I would like to believe this suggests a paradigm shift in the way the sport is being perceived and played in the country now. This is borne out by the performances of our players in recent competitions and their rankings.
Four Indians are in the top-100 in the world across men’s and women’s categories and as many more are poised to achieve that distinction. Talented Indian players getting exposure, whether in young leagues like the CEAT UTT or older ones in Germany and elsewhere is not only heartening, but also imperative for sport to grow in the country.
With professionally run platforms like CEAT UTT bringing top-class table tennis to the masses in India, I believe a full-fledged revolution in the sport is underway.
Krishnakanta Chakraborty, Manav rises to world No. 2, January 20, 2018: The Times of India
Manav Thakkar became the first Indian paddler to grab the world No.2 spot in the boys’ under-18 category of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) rankings. Li Hsin-Yang of Chinese Taipei holds the No. 1 spot while China’s Wang Chuqin is in third spot.
The 17-year-old Surat boy has been in brilliant form for the last one year and has bagged two Pro-tour gold medals in Slovenia and Indian Open and finished runners-up in Thailand Open last year. A few more wins at the international level will brighten Manav’s chances to climb to the top spot. Manav has also broken into the top-15 in the boys’ U-21rankings.
Manav, who started playing table tennis at the age of 6 under the guidance of Vahed Malubhai at Sufaiz TT Academy in Surat, began to show his talent at an early stage and impressed everyone by bagging a triple crown in the state meet (cadet, sub-junior and junior) in Surat way back in 2010.
Apart from Manav, there are as many as 17 India players broke into the top-50 of the world rankings in different categories. Among other successes, recently crowned junior national champion Payas Jain has climbed to the 11th spot, and right behind him is Jeho H at No. 12. Another entrant into the top 50 — Yashansh Malik — is at the 46th spot.
Snehit S (24), Manush Shah (33), Jeet Chandra (36) and Parth Virmani (43) also promise big things, making it into the upper echelons of the U-18 ITTF rankings. Another Gujarati lad in fray is Ronit Bhanja, who is placed No. 47 in the U-21rankings. In the girls’ U-18 category, Bengaluru lass Archana Girish Kamath has has also moved up smartly from 34 to 18. Chennai girl Selena Selvakumar has also been quietly inching up and is now at No. 37.
Serbian Junior and Cadet Open
Junior paddlers bag 2 silver, 3 bronze
September 21, 2018: Business Standard
Kovilovo (Serbia): India’s young paddlers extended their purple patch on the international stage, clinching two silver and three bronze medals in the 2018 Serbian Junior and Cadet Open here. Deepit Patil-Anukram Jain and Radhapriya Goel-Anusha Kutumbale emerged as the stars, winning the silver medals in the junior boys’ doubles and the junior girls’ doubles categories respectively here. Diya Chitale-Swastika Ghosh claimed the bronze medal.
U-18
Manav is U-18 world No. 1 paddler, February 2, 2018: The Times of India
Chennai: Manav Thakkar became the first Indian paddler to make it to the top of the U-18 world ranking that came out on Thursday. China’s Wang Chuqin grabbed the No.2 slot while Indian-origin American player Kanak Jha was placed at No.3.
Manav, who rose to the No. 2 spot last month, accumulated 6396 points till January end, according to the latest International Table Tennis Federation rankings. “It’s a great feeling and I’m unable to express it in words,” Manav told TOI from Luxembourg, where he will be vying for top honours in the ITTF World Junior Circuit Finals.
Indian players’ world rankings, August
Sharath jumps to 33rd spot in world TT rankings, August 4, 2018: The Times of India
Achanta Sharath Kamal, long-time poster boy of Indian table tennis, upstaged teammate G Sathiyan to be the highest ranked Indian in the world at No.33. Sathiyan, who is at No.39, has shown a jump of just one spot while Sharath gained 10 positions. Harmeet Desai, who was at 79 before the Commonwealth Games, is very much in the top 100 but 20 places behind at No.99. In women’s rankings, Manika Batra gained 24 places to be at No.57. PTI
