Manav Thakkar has jumped nine places to become the world number one paddler in the Under-21 men's category in the latest International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) rankings. In December, 19-year-old Thakkar had claimed the ITTF Challenge Plus Benemax-Virgo North American Open men's singles title. Notably, he had also achieved world number one rank in the Under-18 category in 2018.