Sharath Kamal becomes highest-ranked Indian table tennis player

Paddler Sharath Kamal, on Thursday, surpassed compatriot Gnanasekaran Sathiyan to become the highest-ranked Indian table tennis player in the men's category.

Kamal had lifted the Oman Open last month and took a leap of seven spots in the latest senior men's rankings released by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) to grab the 31st position.

"Some positive news, amidst all the negativity currently. Feels great actually. Just the news I needed while I find myself away from the game during this lockdown," Kamal said in a statement.

India's young rising paddler Mudit Dani also made notable progress in the senior men's rankings as he broke into the Top-200 for the first time in his career.

Dani took a jump of nine places to claim the 200th position while Harmeet Desai (72), Anthony Amalraj (100) and Manav Thakkar (139) are the other Indian men paddlers who have positioned themselves in the first 200.

In the senior women's rankings, Manika Batra is at 63rd position while Sutirtha Mukharjee at 95th, breaking into the top 100.

As ITTF has suspended all its events until June 30 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the rankings will now be frozen until the start of events.