'Being World No. 2 will give us good confidence when we compete at the Asian Games.'
Laid low by a viral infection, Manav Thakkar was down but not out against Manush Shah in the Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) Season 7 match on July 18.
UP Prometheans' Thakkar lost the marquee encounter against U Mumba TT's Shah. The significance of the match, though, was more than just U Mumba pocketing the tie and eventually defending the UTT title on Sunday, July 26.
This was a duel between a duo that made history on July 13 when they became the first Indian pair to reach the World No. 2 spot in the ITTF Table Tennis World Rankings.
Key Points
- Manav Thakkar and Manush Shah are India's first men's doubles World No. 2 pair.
- Manav, India's top-ranked men's singles paddler, has set his sights firmly on winning a medal at the Asian Games.
- Natives of Gujarat, Manav and Manush have gone onto forge a partnership that has seen them through wins, losses and more over the last 12 odd years.
The rankings boost for the right-left combo comes weeks before the Asian Games 2026, scheduled to be held in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, from September 19 to October 4.
Despite the setbacks in UTT Season 7, Manav Thakkar, who is India's top-ranked men's singles paddler, has set his sights firmly on winning a medal at the Asian Games.
"I was looking forward to the Asian Games. Me and Manush are World No. 2, and I am the best singles player for the country," the World No. 38 singles player tells Rediff's Norma Astrid Godinho.
"The goal for me was to push in the UTT to get stronger and fitter for the coming two months because I have many tournaments coming up -- the WTT Champions in Japan and the Europe Smash."
'We don't think too much about being World No. 2'
"The plan is to play just once a day, focus more on rehab and recovery, and try to get back in form by the Japan (WTT Champions Yokohoma, August 4), and Europe (WTT Europe Smash Sweden, August 8) tournaments," Manav adds, noting these are two key events he needs to push for world ranking points.
"After Japan, the plan was to train in the doubles alongside Manush. If there is any weakness, I will rest for a week and only train for a week, instead of two. So the plan has changed, but the goal is still there -- to go out there and get a medal at the Asian Games. I will be ready by then," Manav asserts.
On Thursday, July 30, Manav and Manush came out to play singles and battled hard as the Indian men overcame a resilient Malaysia 3-2 in the final of the Commonwealth Games TT Championships at the Thyagaraj stadium in New Delhi.
Natives of Gujarat, Manav and Manush have gone onto forge a partnership that has seen them through wins, losses and more over the last 12 odd years.
Consistent success has come their way only over the last 12 months, peaking their rankings. They won the World Table Tennis Contender Event in Lagos, Nigeria, and finished runners-up at the WTT Star Contender Foz do Iguaçu 2025 in Brazil.
Another finals appearance at the WTT Contender Skopje 2025 and consistent performances in 2026, including the WTT Contender Lagos 2026 title and a quarter-final finish at the United States Smash saw their reputations and rankings zoom.
"We enjoy it a lot," says Manav about playing with Manush. "In every match and tournament we play, we don't think too much about being World No. 2. For each match, we prepare for our opponents, knowing that whoever we face is world class."
'We are looking forward to get a medal'
"In men's doubles earlier, there was no professional pair for India. Me and Manush were the first ones," says Manav. "So, whatever we do, it creates history and sets new records. This motivates and inspires us a lot.
"It gives us a great deal of confidence when we win matches at a WTT Smash event against players who are already exceptional in singles. While we are good in singles, we are not yet at the same level as we are in doubles.
"We aren't overthinking the pressure and are just enjoying ourselves. We are both from Gujarat, share a great bond, and that connection shows on the table as we perform," he adds.
At the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, Thakkar and Shah missed a medal after losing the men's doubles quarter-finals to the Republic of Korea's then World No. 1 pair of Jang Woo-jin and Lim Jong-hoon. But the duo's confidence of bagging an Asiad medal in Japan is sky high.
"Being World No. 2 will give us good confidence when we compete at the Asian Games. At the 2023 Asian Games me and Manush were very close to winning a medal. Against the World No 1 we had a match ball, like 2 match points.
"So going into this Asian Games there will be a little bit of pressure but at the same time we are doing well. We have matured as players. So, we are looking forward to get a medal there."
'Things are improving in India'
img title="At World No. 38, Manav Thakkar is the highest ranked Indian male table tennis singles player" src="https://im.rediff.com/sports/2026/jul/31manav-thakkar-.jpg" alt="At World No. 38, Manav Thakkar is the highest ranked Indian male table tennis singles player" width="1200" height="800" />
With Asian countries continuing to churn out champion paddlers, Manav says the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) is now laying emphasis on and has streamlined efforts to help Indian players challenge the big guns.
"Asian (China, Japan, South Korea) players continue to challenge players from other parts of the world. Asian players have always had a good team in terms of the coaches, infrastructure, even a strong pool of players.
"We can see now that things are improving in India, but still they (Asian countries) are much more ahead in terms of sports science or having a psychologist, fitness training among other things. This is a big challenge when you play against Chinese or Japanese players.
"What cricket is to India, table tennis is to countries like China and Japan. So, we are doing well, we are on the right track. Recently me and Manush won against a Japanese doubles players (the Indian pair stunned Japan's top pair of Shunsuke Togami and Sora Matsushima 3-1 at the WTT United States Smash 2026 in late June). They were world champions earlier. So yes, we are getting results but we need to be consistent in getting those results."
"If you go back 5, 10 years, there were not many table tennis halls in the country. Even now, you will not see a hall, specially designated for table tennis... there are 5 halls I think in the whole country.
"Things are getting better. But at the same time, if you see in China or in Japan, or in France, where I train regularly, they have 5 national centres in France.
"Yes, India is building the first National Training Centre for table tennis in Bangalore. Things are moving, but at the same time we as players also need to perform well."
'Mental training is very important for success'
Manav credits the Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) for elevating the quality and confidence of Indian paddlers.
"UTT is one platform where we all come together. We have quality coaches, sparring partners, etc. Even if you see the foreign players, almost all of them are Olympians. We need these players coming into the country to share their experiences. Having exposure to quality foreign players in the UTT makes us confident playing internationally. The mindset is that we can defeat those guys internationally as well.
"In terms of infrastructure things are moving on the right path, but we still need maybe a good strength and conditioning trainer, psychologist and everybody to come up together and guide the players to help us attain more success."
For the 26 year old, mental training is an absolute essential while chasing TT ambitions.
"Mental training is very important for success, especially in table tennis because it's important that you bounce back from the losses or when you are having a bad phase how you counter those bad phases and get that confidence back.
"Because the game is only about confidence. Everybody in the current world is training let's say 4 to 6 hours a day. They are into fitness training; they are doing everything. But the mental training part is what separates the best from the rest.
"They are very sharp psychologically. They are calm if they are not winning points and very strong mentally when they are winning games and matches."
For Manav Thakkar, the journey is far from complete. The World No. 2 doubles ranking is merely a milestone; an Asian Games medal remains the ultimate prize.
