The Indian men's table tennis team has broken into the top 10 of the international rankings and are currently ninth, thus achieving their highest ever position on the standings. India are on 272 rankings points and tied with 10th placed Austria.
Indian table tennis has been on an upward curve over the past two years. The men's team, featuring the likes of Sharath Kamal and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran won gold at the Commonwealth Games in 2018, bronze at the Asian Games in the same year and gold at the Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships in September. They were placed 13th in the rankings last year.
"HISTORIC Highest ever World team ranking achieved by Indian Men's Table Tennis team of WR #9 in a sport played by 226 nations. Proud moment. Long way to go guys," said Sathiyan in a tweet. The Indian women's team meanwhile are placed 21st on the table.
China and Japan make the top two of both men's and women's team standings. The Chinese men's team are on 290 points, two ahead of Japan. The women's team are on 248 points while the Japanese women are on 246.