Indian table tennis player Manika Batra has reached the top 50 of the women's singles world rankings for the first time. She has also gained 6 places in the latest international table tennis federation (ITTF) rankings. In the men's singles rankings, G Sathiyan has moved up one place to 33rd position while Sharath Kamal has moved down two places to 34th position. According to media reports, the pair of Manika and Sathiyan has now occupied the 11th position in the mixed doubles rankings. He has reached the highest-ever world rankings achieved by an Indian mixed pair. Both the players have performed brilliantly in the recent past and have won many tournaments. Manika and Archana Kamath have also gained in the women's doubles rankings. The Indian pair has moved up four places to the sixth position.

Last year, it was reported that ITTF CEO Steve Danton has expressed his full confidence with the return of the game to the international stage for the bright future of the game. The ITTF #RESTART series, which includes the ITTF Women's and Men's World Cups and finals, was staged in November in China, signalling the return of international table tennis after an eight-month hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The series was followed by an innovative WTT Macao tournament.

In a letter to the AFPF website, Danton Paine said: "We showed the world that table tennis is well and truly alive and has a very bright future. Danton expressed his admiration for all those who put their efforts into bringing back table tennis, including "amazing" players for their sacrifice. The work, sweat, tears and the absolute joy of seeing our favourite players compete for the top prizes in our #RESTART series, will go down as one of the most important things in history that the ITTF and table tennis ever achieved."
 
He added: "Without you, it would have been impossible. For most of 2020, we have only been fighting to survive, but in the last few months, we not only survived – we did more – we showed the world that table tennis is well and truly alive and with a very bright future," Danton noted. He also thanked China and the Chinese Table Tennis Association (CTTA) for their full support for the game. "We quickly draw our attention to 2021 that now with the confidence of the #RESTART we will organise even bigger and better and re-run all our activities," wrote Danton, who is eagerly awaiting the World Table Tennis Championships in Besson.

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