Manika Batra climbs three places to reach career-high 33 in ITTF rankings

New Delhi, Jan 26 Indian star paddler Manika Batra gained three spots in the latest International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) world rankings to reach a career-best 33rd in women's singles.

Manika's impressive outing at the WTT Contender Doha last week, where she reached the semifinals, helped her to gain three spots in the world rankings.

In November last year, she became the first Indian women paddler to win a medal at the Asian Cup and only the second Indian to achieve the feat after Chetan Baboor bagged a silver in 1997 and a bronze in 2000.

The 27-year-old paddler entered the top 50 in the world rankings in February last year and remained in the 30s and 40s throughout the year.

Meanwhile, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran remained the country's top-ranked men's singles player at world No. 40, dropping one spot, while veteran paddler and national champion Sharath Kamal gained one spot to be placed 46th in the list.

The mixed doubles pair of Manika &Sathiyan, who had an impressive campaign in two WTT Contender Doha events, dropped a place to sixth spot in the latest rankings, while the combination of Manika and Archana Girish Kamath slipped one spot to be sixth in the women's doubles chart.