Indian TT team sets an amazing feat in the world rankings

In an exciting development in the country’s table tennis scene, the Indian men’s team, for the first time ever, has managed to enter the top 10 in world rankings. The team has managed to attain the ninth position; its highest ever rank on the table.

The important update was given by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), which updated its rankings on Monday. China tops the men’s team rankings with a haul of 290 points. Japan comes in at the second spot with 288 points duly followed by Germany with 286 points.

The Indian team’s previous highest stood at tenth rank. However, they went one better in the revised list with 272 ranking points. India finds itself tied with Austria, which takes the tenth place itself.

What lead to the rise?

The steady rise in the country’s TT rankings is a resultant of the consistent performances by G Sathiyan, Sharath Kamal & Co. The Indian paddlers started their dream run with a gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. This was followed by a bronze at the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games trailed by another gold medal at the 2019 Commonwealth Table Tennis Championship in Cuttack back in July.

The team also had its second-best outing at the 2019 Asian Table Tennis Championships in September. These achievements have been crucial in India’s swift ascent from 13th last year to the current ninth spot.

Star Indian paddler Sathiyan Gnanasekaran his conveyed delight over the news with a celebratory tweet. His tweet read, “India’s ranking update comes after the boys managed a 3-2 win against Fulda TTC in an exciting tie from its camp in Germany.”

Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju too expressed his best wishes to the team through a tweet on Monday. “Great achievement! The Indian Men’s Table Tennis Team reach their highest ever world ranking of 9. Congratulations on this fine achievement,” his tweet read.