Table Tennis had a breath of fresh air as 2018 marked a picture-perfect year for the players of Indian contingent and for the Ultimate Table Tennis’ paddlers all around the world. From making the mark in the 2018 Commonwealth Games to attaining the career best ranks, things seemed to have fallen in the best place for the athletes and the sport in 2018.

Dabang Smashers TTC’s virtuoso, Manika Batra and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran were honoured with the prestigious Arjuna Award by former President Shri Ram Nath Kovind in September, which marked a remarkable achievement for the sport in India.

Their achievement headlined the rise of Ultimate Table Tennis players not just on a national scale but globally as well. While the Arjuna Award took the accolades of the achievements of the year, India's performance at the Commonwealth Games 2018 also marked a major career highlight for the players in the country.

With seven medals at Gold Coast 2018 bagged through a mix of the Indian men's and women's and other individual events, these paddlers announced themselves to the world. Here's the full list:

India’s Medal Tally

Category

Medal

Team India – Men

Teams Event

Gold

Team India – Women

Teams Event

Gold

Manika Batra

Women’s Singles

Gold

Sharath Kamal and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran

Men’s Doubles

Silver

Manika Batra and Mouma Das

Women’s Doubles

Silver

Sharath Kamal

Men’s Singles

Bronze

Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and Manika Batra

Mixed Doubles

Bronze

UTT's foreign professionals too made an impact in 2018. Dabang Smashers wonderkind, Adriana Diaz achieved her career best rank of 33 in September displaying some staggering performances and then went on to register a win at the 2018 PAN American Junior Championships. Apart from the Puerto Rican player, Warrior T.T. C’s ace paddler Quadri Aruna made his mark as he rose up the ranks by winning the African ITTF Championship and grabbing a career best rank of 18 in August’ 18. These were just a couple from a long list of players who went onto to record their career-best rankings this year.

Name     

Career-Best Ranks

Month

UTT Team

Sharath Kamal

30

December’18

Warriors T.T.C.

Manika Batra

52

December’18

Dabang Smashers T.T.C.

Sathiyan Gnanasekaran

31

December’18

Dabang Smashers T.T.C.

Liam Pitchford

16

December’18

Falcons TTC

Bernadette Scozs

18

December’18

Falcons TTC

Mattias Falck

12

November’18

RP-SG Mavericks

Sofia Polcanova

15

October’18

Warriors T.T.C.

Kristian Karlsson

17

March’18

Mahrashtra United

Nuytinck Cedric

38

March’18

Dabang Smashers T.T.C.

Doo Hoi Kem

9

January’18

RP-SG Mavericks

Sakura Mori

17

January’18

Dabang Smashers T.T.C.

The season just got better as the mercurial athlete from Empowerji Challengers, Manav Thakkar, bid adieu to the Junior Circuit by clinching gold at 2018 Portugal Junior and Cadet Open. Known for his attacking style of play, Thakkar's progress has been promising and bodes well for UTT’s brightest young talents.

Manika Batra concluded the year winning the 'Breakthrough Table Tennis Star' award at the prestigious International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Star Awards ceremony in Incheon, South Korea for her performance throughout the year.

It has indeed been a breakthrough year. Not just for Manika, but for ‘Ultimate Table Tennis’ as a whole.