Gold medal winning performance by the Indian men's and women's teams in the second division of the recently-concluded World Table Tennis Team Championship in Kuala Lumpur has helped the paddlers climb up the ladder in the latest ITTF rankings.
India's women paddlers K Shamini and Manika Batra played a key role in notching up eight wins on the trot for the team during the championships to finish with a gold and also helped India secure a Champions Division place in the next World Championships in 2018.
Shamini has been the biggest gainer, jumping up 45 places to break into the 200 bracket to be at 183rd position from 228th.
Manika and Mouma Das have also moved up 26 and 15 places, respectively. While reigning national champion Manika climbed upto 134 from 160, veteran Moumais placed at 151th spot. She was ranked 166th when the championships started.
Indian male paddlers Harmeet Desai and Achanta Sharath Kamal have also benefited the most, going up 14 and 12 positions, respectively. G Sathiyan and Soumyajit Ghosh have also climbed up the ladder.
Prior to the World Championships, Harmeet was at 130, but after his sterling performances, particularly against Brazil in the second division final that fetched India gold, he is currently ranked 116th.
Exeprienced Sharath has moved up 10 places to 59 from 69tj spot.
The ace Indian had touched his peak just after the Suzhou World Championships (individuals) last year to be at No. 32. But a hip injury forced him out of the Worlds after he had reached the pre-quarterfinals.
Although Ghosh has been a regular part of the Indian team at the Malaysian capital, he has had a mixed bag outing and it reflected in a mere six-place jump from 89 to 83.
However, Sathiyan, who played just a couple matches with an all-win record, is ranked 153. He was at 160 before the tournament.
But the surprising aberration is national champion Anthony Amalraj. Although he contributed towards India's qualification in the Champions Division, Amalraj has lost 11 places to be at 197th. He was previously ranked 186th.
