Sreeja Akula achieved the highest ranking for an Indian table tennis player at world No. 22 in the women’s singles following an impressive campaign at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Rankings were updated on Tuesday.
At Paris 2024, Akula blanked Sweden’s then world No. 58 Christina Kallberg of Sweden 4-0 in the round of 64 before getting the better of 52nd-ranked Zeng Jian of Singapore in the round of 32 with a scoreline of 4-2.
Akula and Manika Batra became the first table tennis players from the country to reach the round of 16 at the Olympics in individual events. However, Akula lost 4-0 to world No. 1 Yingsha Sun of the People’s Republic of China in the round of 16.
Akula climbed up three places from her previous ranking while Batra also rose three places to rank 25th. Akula’s previous career-best was world No. 24 she achieved after winning the WTT Contender Lagos in June.
Batra advanced to the pre-quarterfinals at the Paris 2024 Olympics after upsetting France’s then world No. 18 Prithika Pavade 4-0 in the round of 32. She lost to eighth-seeded Japanese player Miu Hirano 4-1 in the round of 16.
Sreeja and Manika are the only Indian table tennis players to ever make it to the top 25 in women’s singles rankings. Tokyo Olympian Sutirtha Mukherjee is the next-best Indian women’s singles player ranked at world No. 84.
However, Sutirtha and Ayhika Mukherjee are India’s top pair in women’s doubles at world No. 17.
Sharath Kamal dropped one place to be India’s top-ranked men’s singles player at 41st. Manav Thakkar is the next best Indian men’s singles player at world No. 59 and is followed by Sathiyan Gnanasearan at 64th. Harmeet Desai is 87th.
India’s highest-ranked pair In the men’s doubles is Manav Thakkar/Manush Shah at world No. 16. Diya Chitale/Manush Shah is the top Indian mixed doubles pair, also at world No. 16.
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