All posts tagged: ThakkarManush

Manav Thakkar-Manush Shah climb to career high world No 2

Manav Thakkar-Manush Shah climb to career high world No 2

Published by Webster

A week after they became the highest ranked Indian table tennis players ever at world No 3, the men’s doubles pair of Manav Thakkar and Manush Shah climbed to a career high world No 2 in the latest ITTF world rankings on Monday. Thakkar and Shah now have 3390 rating points in the world rankings and trail only China’s Lin Shidong and Huang Youzheng (5160). Thakkar and Shah’s ascend came after the French pairing of Alexis Lebrun and Felix Lebrun fell down by three spots to world No 5 with 2658 points after the latest rankings update. The Indians are now in an uncharted territory for paddlers from the country with the women’s doubles pair of Archana Kamath and Manika Batra at world No 4 back in 2022 being the highest ranked Indians ever until last week. Thakkar and Shah’s haul of 3390 points majorly comes from their semi-final finish at the 2026 Singapore Smash (900) earlier this year. They had also reached the 2026 US Smash quarters recently, bagging another 580 points while their …

Manav Thakkar-Manush Shah climb to World No 3; highest ranked Indians ever

Manav Thakkar-Manush Shah climb to World No 3; highest ranked Indians ever

Published by Webster

The Indian table tennis men’s doubles pair of Manav Thakkar and Manush Shah climbed to a career high world No 3 rank in the latest ITTF rankings on Monday. Thakkar and Shah gained one spot in the latest rankings to become the highest ranked Indian paddlers ever in the history of the sport. With a total of 3560 points, Thakkar and Shah now only trail China’s Lin Shidong-Huang Youzheng (5510) and France’s Alexis Lebrun-Felix Lebrun (4058) in the rankings. History made in Indian table tennis 🏓🇮🇳 Manush Shah and Manav Thakkar have climbed to a career-high World No. 3 with 3560 points in the latest ITTF Men’s Doubles World Rankings. That makes them the highest-ranked Indian pair ever in the sport’s history. Previously, Manika… pic.twitter.com/IMMbLJg7z3 — The Bridge (@the_bridge_in) July 7, 2026 The duo from Gujarat is now in an uncharted territory in Indian table tennis, surpassing the former women’s doubles duo of Manika Batra and Archana Kamath, who so far held the distinction of being the highest ranked Indians ever at world No 4. …

Manav Thakkar-Manush Shah climb to career high world No 2

Manav Thakkar-Manush Shah win men’s doubles title

Published by Webster

India’s Manav Thakkar and Manush Shah clinched the men’s doubles title at the 2026 WTT Contender in Lagos, Nigeria on Sunday. Thakkar and Shah, the world No 5 pair, took down wildcard entrants Lulian Chrita and Andrei Istrate of Romania 3-0 in the final. Chrita and Istrate were of no match to the top seeded Indians, as they brushed past them 11-7, 12-10, 11-4 in just over 22 minutes. Thakkar and Shah didn’t drop a single game in the tournament, winning all their four matches with a clean 3-0 margin enroute to the title. They started their campaign with a win over qualifiers Abdulbasit-Mathew in the first round, before taking down fellow Indians Mudit Dani and Sanil Shetty in the quarter-final. Thakkar and Shah then beat Nigeria’s fourth seeded Taiwo Mati and Matthew Kuti in the semi-finals to make their way to the title clash. The men’s doubles win also marked a second title win of the week for Shah, who had earlier clinched the mixed doubles title with Diya Chitale. Disclaimer: We do not …

French Lebrun brothers defeat India’s Manav Thakkar-Manush Shah 3-2 in Battle of All-Bespectacled at Singapore Smash | Sport-others News

French Lebrun brothers defeat India’s Manav Thakkar-Manush Shah 3-2 in Battle of All-Bespectacled at Singapore Smash | Sport-others News

Published by Webster

2 min readFeb 27, 2026 01:59 PM IST India’s first Singapore Smash semifinalists Manav Thakkar and Manush Shah had to contend with a Last 4 exit as they went down 6-11, 11-7, 10-12, 11-9, 8-11 to French paddler pair Felix and Alexis Lebrun. It was a Battle of the All-Bespectacled at the Infinity Arena at The Kallang, as the venue is called. The Indians were the first ever to make semis of a Smash from the country. After the two combines went 2 games apiece, Thakkar-Shah had done well to go on a 4 point spree to lead 5-3, but the French took off thereafter, attacking Manav and Manush’s serve with careful acceleration. The Lebruns, starting from their singles losses, took off at 8-7, and raced into the final. Earlier, the Indian left-right combo had done well to push a decider, playing a confident fourth game, and holding off the French, moving up from the crucial 7-7 deadlock. The third game too was very tight, and perhaps more winnable as the Indians kept snapping at …

Manav Thakkar-Manush Shah become first Indians to reach doubles semis at Singapore Smash | Sport-others News

Manav Thakkar-Manush Shah become first Indians to reach doubles semis at Singapore Smash | Sport-others News

Published by Webster

2 min readFeb 26, 2026 10:20 AM IST India’s top TT stars Manav Thakkar and Manush Shah may not have made great headway in singles at the Singapore Smash, but they combined to enter the semifinals of the year’s second Major, with a 3-0 win over Germans Martin Allegro and Adrien Rassenfose. The Smash series is table tennis’ top tier on the circuit, and the Indians did well to defeat the Germans 11-8, 11-9, 11-9 to reach the semifinals. Thakkar and Shah are the first Indian pair to have reached the semifinals of a WTT Grand Smash since its inception. An early stutter in the second game saw the Double Ms, seeded 6th at Singapore, fall back 2-5, but they quickly went on a counter, attacking the German serves with swift returns for 5 consecutive points, to win it 11-9. In Game 3, Indians took a 4-0 lead and ran with it. This is a crucial year for India’s peddlers, bound for the Asian Games, where at the last edition, India notched a bronze through …

Manav Thakkar-Manush Shah attain career-best world ranking in doubles

Published by Webster

Indian men’s doubles table tennis pair Manav Thakkar and Manush Shah attained their career-best world ranking after reaching world number 12 in the latest ITTF Rankings on Tuesday. The latest ranking jump in men’s doubles comes after a spectacular run by the duo in Feeder tournaments this year. Last week, Manav-Manush finished runner-ups in the WTT Feeder Otocec tournament after losing to Korea’s Kim Minhyeok and Park Ganghyeon in the final. In a nail-biting contest, the top-seeded Indian duo conceded their opening game lead to lose the contest 12-10, 8-11, 11-7, 12-14, 8-11. This was their second runner-up finish in three consecutive finals. Last month in Lebanon, Manav and Manush reached the final of the WTT Feeder Beirut event before making it to the summit clash of the WTT Feeder Beirut II tournament. While they settled for a silver medal in the first event in Beirut, Manav and Manush secured the gold medal in the WTT Feeder Beirut II event. Following an impressive few weeks, including three back-to-back WTT final appearances, Manav Thakkar and Manush …