Learn about the talented Indian table tennis players who are causing a stir in the world of international sports.

There are many best Table Tennis players in India. Be it, Manika Batra or Sharath Kamal, the nation is blessed with some of the most outstanding athletes. 2018 the Indian paddlers achieved a breakthrough when they won big at the Asian and Commonwealth Games. 

Today, in contrast to past eras, the game is respected more nationally and internationally. Want to learn more about the heroes of paddling? The top 11 Indian table tennis players are listed below.

So, let’s take a look at the Top 11 Indian Table Tennis Players

Sr. NoPlayers NameYear of Debut
1Sharath Kamal2004
2Manika Batra2011
3Harmeet Desai2017
4Sathiyan Gnanasekaran2016
5Manav Thakkar2018
6Sreeja Akula2019
7Ayhika Mukherjee2018
8Sutirtha Mukherjee2013
9Soumyajit Ghosh2012
10Ankita Das2012
11Neha Aggarwal2008

11. Neha Aggarwal

Player NameYear of Debut Achievements 
Neha Aggarwal2008Only woman from India to feature in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
Gold in COMMONWEALTH YOUTH GAMES 2008
Bronze in COMMONWEALTH CHAMPIONSHIPS 2009, Glasgow.

The sole Indian woman to compete in that sport at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing was Indian table tennis player Neha Aggarwal Sharma (born 11 January 1990). Aggarwal won the right to compete in the Olympics by upsetting the favorites, Poulomi Ghatak and Mouma Das. The winner of the Junior National Table Tennis Championship held in Ahmedabad and Kolkata was a Delhi girl who attended Delhi Public School in R. K. Puram for her elementary education and St. Stephen’s College in Delhi for her college education.

10. Ankita Das

Player NameYear of Debut Achievements 
Ankita Das2012Won the championship at the 75th Senior National Table Tennis Championships (2014) Women’s singles event.           INTERNATIONAL PERFORMANCES
2006 – WJC China Cadet Girls Singles – Runner Up.
2007 – WJC Canada Cadet Girls Singles – gold medal
2007 – Cape Town, South Africa Cadet Girls, Asian Team – Gold

In the WJC Canada Cadet Girls Singles, Ankita Das won a gold medal in 2007. She won the gold medal in 2007 while competing for the Asian Team in Cape Town, South Africa. The Women’s Singles competition at the 75th Senior National Table Tennis Championships (2014) was won by Ankita Das. In the WJC China Cadet Girls Singles, she finished second in 2006.

9. Soumyajit Ghosh

Player NameYear of Debut Achievements 
Soumyajit Ghosh2012Youngest Indian Table Tennis Players to qualify for the London, 2012 Olympics.
Youngest national champion at the age of 19.
Won mixed doubles bronze medal at the World Junior Championships in Bahrain.
Arjun Awardee

Being a West Bengali middle-class family member. When Soumyajit qualified for the 2012 Olympic Games as the country’s youngest paddler, he began a new era. As of the time of his death, he was 19 years old. At that time, he also broke the record for the youngest national champion.

8. Sutirtha Mukherjee

Player NameYear of Debut Achievements 
Sutirtha Mukherjee2013Won women’s singles title in 2018 at the Senior National Table Tennis Championships in India. 
Won Bronze medal in women’s doubles with Ahyika Mukherjee in  Asian Games 2022. 
Part of the winning India team for the gold medal in the 2018 Commonwealth Games. 

Sutirtha Mukherjee the girl who came from the West Bengal of India made a name in Table Tennis with her outstanding display of skills at various national and international competitions. She was part of the Indian women’s Table Tennis team in the 2018 Common Wealth Games and the team won the gold medal. Moreover, Surtirtha also won the bronze medal in tennis doubles at the Asian Games 2022.

7. Ayhika Mukherjee

Player NameYear of Debut Achievements 
Ayhika Mukherjee2018Won Bronze medal for India in the Quarterfinals in Asian Games 2022. 
Won Bronze medal in women’s doubles with Sutirtha Mukherjee in  Asian Games 2023. 
Defeated the No. 1 Champion of China Sun Yingsha in the World Table Tennis Team Championships 2024.
Arjuna Award 2023

Ayhika Mukherjee is a young player who made a mark in Table tennis through her performances and has been awarded the prestigious award Arjuna Award in 2023. She belongs to West Bengal and debuted in table tennis internationally in the 2018 Asian Games. Ayhika has very recently defeated the No. 1 Champion of China Sun Yingsha in the World Table Tennis Team Championships 2024.

6. Sreeja Akula

Player NameYear of Debut Achievements 
Sreeja Akula2019Runner up in National Women’s Singles Table Tennis Championships 2022.
Won gold medal in Mixed Doubles event along with Sharath Kamal in 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Won Gold medals in Womens Doubles and Women’s team Events at the 2019 South Asian Games Table Tennis. 
Arjuna Award 2022
Won the international tournament WTT Feeder Corpus Christi in Texas, in January 2024. 

Sreeja Akula comes from the Telangana State of India and is on the number one rank in women’s Singles Table tennis in India. She has been awarded the prestigious award Arjuna Award in 2022. Sreeja has won the gold medal in the 2019 South Asian Games Table Tennis and the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

5. Manav Thakkar

Player NameYear of Debut Achievements 
Manav Thakkar2018Achieved the number one ranking in the Under-18 category of Table tennis in 2018. 
First Indian table tennis player to be in the number one rank under-21 Category in 2020.
won the ITTF Challenge Plus Benemax-Virgo North American Open in 2019

Manav Thakkar belongs to the Rajkot, Gujarat state of India. He debuted internationally in table tennis at the 2018 Asian Games. Since then he has made India proud at every competition and won many titles. He is very young and is interested in achieving great heights in table tennis for India.

4. Sathiyan Gnanasekaran

Player NameYear of Debut Achievements 
Sathiyan Gnanasekaran2016First Indian table tennis player to win an ITTF event on European soil.
Won gold in the ITTF Challenge – Spanish Open, in Almeria (2017) in the men’s singles category.
Won three medals in his debut Commonwealth Games at Gold Coast, Australia.
ARJUNA AWARD 2018TOISA Table Tennis Player of the Year Award 2017 (Jury choice).

He is one of the most recent players to gain recognition in Indian table tennis. Sathiyan Gnanasekaran has been someone to keep an eye on whenever an international table tennis competition rolls out, along with Sharath Kamal. G Sathiyan’s entry into professional TT, though, was more of an accident than a conscious decision. Sports weren’t considered a job possibility when I was growing up in a traditional Tamil household. The local from Chennai played TT frequently, but it was never a serious game.

3. Harmeet Desai

Player NameYear of Debut Achievements 
Harmeet Desai2017Won Gold in the Men’s Team and Bronze in the Men’s Doubles at the 2018  COMMONWEALTH GAMES
Won Bronze in Men’s Team at the 2018 Asian Games. 
Won Gold in Men’s Doubles 2021.  
Won Gold in Men’s Singles 

Following a strong performance in the Commonwealth Games, the Gujarati paddler earned back-to-back medals at the National Games by winning both the singles and the team competition. In front of his home fans, Harmeet defeated Sathiyan Gnanasekaran in the singles semifinals. He easily defeated Soumyajit Ghosh in the finals, which was no match for them.

2. Manika Batra

Player NameYear of Debut Achievements 
Manika Batra20112011: Won silver medal in the under-21 category of the Chile Open.
Won three medals at the 2015 Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships.
Won three gold medals at the 2016 South Asian Games.
Top-ranked female table tennis player in India.
Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award 2020.
Won three gold medals at the 2016 South Asian Games.

Soon after, Manika Batra joined them at the table and went on to succeed in the years that followed. When she was 16 years old, she took home a silver medal in the Under-21 division at the Chile Open. Despite losing in the women’s singles quarterfinals at Glasgow in 2014, Manika showed promise. The Indian player of table tennis continued to improve and, a year later, at the Commonwealth table tennis championships, she took home three medals, including a bronze in the women’s singles competition.

1. Sharath Kamal

Player NameYear of Debut Achievements 
Sharath Kamal2004First Indian table tennis player ever to become nine times Senior National Champion.
Arjun award
Padma Shri            
COMMONWEALTH GAMES
Gold: 2006, Melbourne: Men’s Singles
Gold: 2006, Melbourne: Men’s Team

He is currently regarded as the Virat Kohli of Indian table tennis. He is the only Indian player to have won the senior national championship nine times. Sharath shattered the record, which had been held by Kamlesh Mehta, an eight-time national champion. At the Commonwealth Games, Sharath won four gold, one silver, and three bronze medals. He received bronze and silver medals from the Asian Games.

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