Sathiyan surpasses Sharath to become highest-ranked Indian at 28, Manika breaks into top-50

Leading Indian paddler G Sathiyan on Wednesday rose to a career-high 28 in the world rankings while compatriot Manika Batra became the first female from the country to break into the top-50. Sathiyan gained three spots to achieve a new career-high ranking while Batra moved up four spots to be 47th.

Veteran Sharath Kamal, who was conferred with the Padma Shri last week, dropped three places to be 33rd in the men's singles standings. "Feeling amazing to achieve this feat. This is just the start of bigger things to come... to reach the top 10 and an Olympic medal," Sathiyan told PTI.

He will now be playing in tournaments in Oman and Qatar in March followed by the World Championship in Hungary in April. On breaking into the top-50, Batra tweeted: "Delighted to be the first Indian woman to break into the top 50 of the @ittfworld rankings. Will continue to work harder than ever... Thank you everyone for your support."

Indian table tennis experienced a historic 2018 when the men's team won the country's first medal at the Asian Games to end a 60-year-wait. Later in the competition held in Jakarta, the mixed doubles pairing of Sharath and Batra combined to win a second bronze for India to cap off a memorable Asiad campaign.