India loves sports, and in recent years, there has been a lot of development in this area. The government of India has launched various schemes to promote sports at the school level and the district level. This has helped the country in producing many great sports personalities. There was a time when people had limited likings in sports, but now, the scope is expanding. One such popular sport that people love is table tennis. It is an indoor game, and you don’t need a huge setup. You can find table tennis setups in housing societies, office entertainment zones, and schools.
India has produced a lot of talent when it comes to table tennis. If you love watching the game or even if you love to play the game, you should know the best players. This can help you learn new moves and strategies. Today, we will talk about the top 10 best table tennis players in India of All time. Let us go ahead and check out the list of these players, along with a short introduction about them.
List of Top Table Tennis Players in India Ever
1. Neha Aggarwal
Neha Aggarwal was born and brought up in Delhi. She completed her schooling at Delhi Public School and had been interested in table tennis since a young age. During her junior years, Neha Aggarwal made huge progress by winning Junior National Table Tennis Championship held in Kolkata and Ahmedabad. She also represented India in the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. Neha also won the gold medal in the commonwealth youth games in 2008. Her performance is phenomenal, and she is above Mouma Das and Poulomi Ghatak in the ranking charts. Neha Aggarwal is pursuing a Master’s in Sports Management from Columbia University in the United States of America. She is an active player even in college.
2. Ankita Da
Next on the list is Ankita Das, who was born in Siliguri, West Bengal. Ankita Das is a popular name in table tennis, and she even won the 75th senior national table tennis championship in a Women’s single event. Ankita Das also represented India in the 20012 Summer Olympics, and in 2011, she won Junior World Championship. She has climbed many ladders when it comes to table tennis. She has played in the national finals and won several medals for her state and country. She also won gold, silver and bronze medal in the Lusofonia games.
3. Anthony Amalraj
Anthony Amalraj is another superstar from India. He has made it big in sports, and he is from Tamil Nadu. He won National Table Tennis Championship in 2012. Anthony Amalraj has received many titles in international tournaments. In addition, he also won a silver medal in the 2014 commonwealth games while he was playing doubles with Sharath Kamal. In 2018, Anthony Amalraj won a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games hosted by Australia. Because of his contribution to sports, Anthony Amalraj was honoured with the Arjuna Award in 2017. He has made history and is among India’s best table tennis players.
4. Soumyajit Ghosh
Moving on, we have Soumyajit Ghosh at number 4. He hails from Siliguri, West Bengal, and he is known to be the youngest Indian player to qualify for the 2012 London Olympics. At 19, Soumyajit Ghosh won the 74th National Table Tennis Championship, and he was the youngest player to achieve that milestone. Later in 2017, Soumyajit Ghosh also won the ITTF Challenge Seamaster Chile. He competed in a single event in the game. At one point, he was at the number 1 chart in India, and he has achieved this with his dedication, consistency and hard work.
5. Kamlesh Mehta
Kamlesh Mehta, also known as Kamlesh Navinchandra Mehta, has been on top of the charts for ten years. During his career, Kamlesh Mehta represented India in eight Asian Championships and won seven International Championships. He was also the captain of the Indian Table Tennis team from 1982 to 1989. His best performance was in SAF Games, Colombo 1991, winning four silver and seven gold medals. In 1985, the Government of India honoured Kamlesh Mehta with Arjuna Award. He retired from the game, but in 2017; he was appointed the national observer by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. At present, Kamlesh Mehta is managing a table tennis academy, and he is grooming fresh talent for the country.
6. Poulomi Ghatak
Next on the list is a women’s table tennis player from West Bengal. Her name is Poulomi Ghatak. She started her career in 1992. Ever since her performance improved, she reached the peak of her career. She got a chance to represent India in Sydney Olympics, and she was just 16 then. Poulomi Ghatak also won the junior and senior national championships in 1998. What makes her the best is that she won the national championship for three consecutive games in 1996, 1998 and 1999. In addition, Poulomi Ghatak also played Indian Open Finals in 2007. It is also known that Poulomi Ghatak won seven senior national championships between 1998 and 2016.
7. Mouma Das
Another amazing table tennis player from West Bengal is Mouma Das. She made it big in the world of table tennis and got to represent India in international events from the start of 2000. She also received several gold medals while playing Women’s Team Competition and the Commonwealth Games. Because of her contribution to the game, she received Arjuna Award in 2013. Later in Commonwealth Championship 2015, Mouma Das won a Silver for India and another team medal. As per the records, Mouma Das has won the maximum number of medals in the Commonwealth. At present, she is working with Oil India Limited.
8. Sathiyan Gnanasekaran
At number 8, we have Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, who has experienced exponential growth in the game. He has an international ranking of 28, which is a huge win. In 2016, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran won the Belgium Open Table Tennis title and contested the game in the men’s single category. In 2018, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran defeated Yuya Oshima in the men’s single ITTF World Tour Platinum Qatar Open. The same year, he got the award of TOISA Table Tennis Player. Owing to his contribution and success, the Government of India offered him Arjuna Award in 2018.
9. Manika Batra
Manika Batra is next on the list, and she represented India in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. She started playing the game when she was four, and with time, she perfected the game. She even won matches in the Under-8 tournament. Manika Batra won three medals in the 2015 Commonwealth table tennis championship, and she also received three gold medals in the South Asian Games of 2016. She became the first Indian woman to win the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games gold medal. At her peak, she ranked 33rd in the world and number 1 in India ranking. She also received Arjuna Award in 2018 and Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna in 2020.
10. Sharath Kamal
Sharath Kamal, also known as Achanta Sharath Kamal, was born in Chennai and has made a huge contribution to sports. He won 2 bronze medals in Asian Championships and two bronze medals in Asian Games. Sharath Kamal also won three bronze medals, three silver medals and seven gold medals in commonwealth games. He has had the best ranking of 30th in the global charts. In 2004, the government of India honoured him with Arjuna Award. Later in 2019, he received Padma Shri, and in 2022, he received Khel Ratna Award.
Final Take
These are some of the best table tennis players of all time in India. You can find their games on YouTube. Many of these players are still active in the game, so you can watch them play in real-time. You get to learn a lot from them. If you also want to become a professional table tennis player, then some of these players can be your role model and inspiration. If you are already into sports, please let us know which one of them is your favourite table tennis player and what you like about them.
Passionate sports content writer, Rocky delves into the world of athletics with a keen eye for detail. With a background in journalism, he transforms moments on the field into compelling narratives that resonate with readers.
