Kolkata, Feb 4 (Agency) The mixed pair of G. Sathiyan and Manika Batra has moved four places up to be at No. 11, according to the latest World Ranking released this week. The Indian pair, until the fourth week, was placed at No. 15. The next best Indian pair is that of Manav Thakkar and Archana Kamath, who is at No. 33, having gained six spots on the ranking list. Among the singles, Sathiyan has jumped a place above A. Sharath Kamal to No. 33, while Sharath was pushed to No. 34. No other male player is in the top 100 list, though Anthony Amalraj closing in on and is currently at No. 102. Manav Thakkar, despite gaining two spots, is way behind him at No. 135, according to Table Tennis Federation of India secretary general Arun Kumar Banerjee.
On the other hand, Manika Batra has jumped six places to break into the top 50. The next best Indian is Archana Kamath, who is at No. 102, having gained a jump of 18 places even as Sutirtha Mukherjee found herself relegated to No. 105, a loss of three spots. Sreeja Akula, who had the biggest jump of them all, is at No. 111. Among the boys, Payas Jain is at No 2 position in the Under-19 section for the fourth consecutive week behind Japanese Harimato Tomokazu, while his state-mate Yashansh Malik is at No. 23. However, the difference between Harimoto and Payas is a whopping 1745 points. Among the U-19 girls, Swastika Ghosh, Diya Chitale and Suhana Saini have retained their places at No. 9, No. 15 and No. 17, respectively since January 2022. Bronze for Suhana Meanwhile, Suhana Saini had to satisfy herself with a bronze medal after losing in the Under-19 Girls semifinals yesterday to Romania’s Elena Zaharia in the ongoing WTT Youth Contender Tunis 2022 championships. The Haryana girl, despite opening well against her Romanian opponents, lost 11-9, 9-11, 10-12, 11-13, after fighting well. In the third and fourth games, the Indian had the opportunity to come back in the match, but Elena held her nerves to outwit Suhana. Earlier in the quarterfinals, she defeated Egyptian Farida Badawy 11-9, 11-4, 11-8 in a one-sided affair.