Table Tennis was a sport that was primarily dominated by nations like China and Japan, and usually saw Indians struggling most of the time if not always while competing against top international opponents. This has changed in recent years with the introduction of Ultable Table Tennis, which featured not only the country’s star players but also had youngsters lock horns with the world's top paddlers and also managed to defeat them.
This was followed by several consistent winning performances by Indians against elite international players on the world stage.
On World Table Tennis Day, we list down top-5 sensational victories by Indian paddlers against some of the world's greatest players during three editions of Ultimate Table Tennis.
Stunning Sathiyan
Current national champion Gnanasekaran Sathiyan was one of the biggest discoveries of the first edition of Ultimate Table Tennis in 2017. The Tamil Nadu paddler stole the limelight when he stunned World No. 8 Wong Chun Ting of Hong Kong 2-1 while playing for Dabang Smashers T.T.C.
Sathiyan's world ranking was 110 when he beat Ting. With this win, he displayed his remarkable skills and quick gameplay. Two years later, the Indian was once again up against the same opponent at an international competition —the 2019 ITTF Asian Cup.
Sathiyan riding on the confidence gained from the win in UTT went on to record one of the biggest triumphs of his international career with the 12-10, 10-12, 11-5, 11-6, 11-8 scoreline facing the World Cup bronze medallist. With some notable performances he also earned a career-best 24th rank — highest ever for an Indian.
Super Sutirtha
Sutirtha, who was ranked outside 200 in the world, had a great run at the last season of Ultimate Table Tennis in 2019. Playing for U Mumba, Sutirtha came into everyone’s attention when she upset World No. 9 Cheng I-Ching to take her side into the semi-finals.
The West Bengal paddler put up a stunning performance to register a 2-1 victory against the World Championship silver medalist star player from Chinese Taipei. Later in January 2020 at the World Team Qualifiers she played a pivotal role and kept the Indian hopes alive with a brilliant 3-2 win against World No. 19 Bernadette Szocs before the side went down 2-3 against Romania. Sutirtha, who is currently ranked in top 100 has already booked a place for her first Olympics at the 2020 Tokyo Games.
Manav's Magic
Currently ranked at No. 1 in the World U-21 along with being the first-ever Indian to achieve this milestone, Manav Thakkar has proved to be a promising youngster with some sensational performances on many occasions while appearing in the three editions of UTT.
In the second edition in 2018 while he locked horns with an opponent from Sweden, who was 223 places above him in the rankings, the 18-year-old showcased great skill sets and composure and shocked the world when he rattled World No. 18 Kristian Karlsson 2-1 to bag his team Empowerji Challengers a memorable victory.
Magnificent Manika
Indian Table Tennis' star Manika Batra put in remarkable performances in the first edition of Ultimate Table Tennis. Batra, while representing Dabang Smashers T.T.C. in season 2 put up one of the noteworthy performances of the league when she upstaged World No. 18 Sofia Polcanova of Austria 2-1. Batra, presently ranked 63 has been among the country’s most consistent performers on the international stage.
Scintillating Sharath
Achanta Sharath Kamal, the record nine-time national champion is presently India's most experienced paddler. Seasoned war horse Sharath recorded a remarkable win in the second edition of UTT when he out performed the World Championships silver medalist Mattias Falck. The experienced Indian knocked down Swedish World No. 20 2-1 while playing for the Team Warriors. Earlier last year, Sharath won his first ITTF title after a ten year long wait at Oman Open and he also upset World No. 16 German paddler Patrick Franziska at the recent WTT Star Contender Doha before bagging a spot for his fourth Olympic Games.
