Manav Thakkar Age, Wiki and Bio

Quick Info

Profession	Table Tennis Player
Nationality	Indian
Date of Birth	14/04/2000
Age	24 years
Birthplace	Rajkot, Gujarat
Hometown	Surat
Marital Status	Unmarried

Bio/Wiki

Full Name	Manav Vikash Thakkar
Other Name	Manav Vikas Thakkar

Physical Stats & More

Height	5' 10" (178 cm)
Eye Color	Black
Hair Color	Black

Educational Qualification(s)

School	Petroleum Table Tennis Academy (PSPB Table Tennis Academy), Ajmer, Rajasthan
Pursuing	B.A. in Psychology and English Literature (as of June 2024)

Personal Life

Date of Birth	14/04/2000
Zodiac sign	Aries
Birthplace	Rajkot, Gujarat
Nationality	Indian
Hometown	Surat
Food Habit	Eggetarian
Hobbies	Watching films and web series

Relationships & More

Marital Status	Unmarried

Family

Father	Vikas Thakkar (ophthalmologist)
Mother	Kalpana Thakkar (ayurveda doctor)

Career

Table Tennis

Coach/Mentor

Anshul Garg
Francisco Santos
Deepak Malik
Yen Wei
Massimo Constantini
Vahed Malubhaiwala

Grip Type

Right-handed shakehand grip

Playing Style

Offensive

Playing Hand

Right

Medals

Gold Medal	2023: Men's singles at UTT National Ranking Table Tennis Championships in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh 2023: Men's Singles at the UTT National Ranking TT Championship in Hyderabad 2023: Men's Team at 84th Inter-State Senior National Table Tennis Championships in Jammu 2023: Men's mixed double team at 84th Inter-State Senior National Table Tennis Championships in Jammu
Silver Medal	2024: Men's singles in World Table Tennis (WTT) Feeder in Beirut, Lebanon 2024: Mixed doubles in World Table Tennis (WTT) Feeder in Beirut, Lebanon
Bronze Medal	2023: Men's Team at 84th Inter-State Senior National Table Tennis Championships in Jammu 2023: Men's team at 2023 Asian Table Tennis Championships in Pyeongchang, South Korea 2021: Men's team at 2021 Asian Table Tennis Championships in Doha, Qatar 2021: Men's Double team at 2021 Asian Table Tennis Championships in Doha, Qatar 2018: Men's team at 18th Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia

Records (main ones)

First Indian to be ranked world number one at the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) under-21 level

Awards

Khel Pratibha Puraskar (Gujarat State award of sportsmanship to winners of national and international level competitions) in February 2024
Consistent Performer of the Year Award from the GoSports Foundation in 2017
National Child Award for Exceptional Achievement in sport from the Honourable President of India in 2015

Favourites

Cricketer	MS Dhoni
Table Tennis Player	Jan-Ove Waldner
Food	Thepla
Beverage	Coffee

Social Media

Instagram	https://www.instagram.com/thakkar.manav
Facebook	https://www.facebook.com/Manav.Vikas.Thakkar/
Twitter	https://x.com/manavthakkar16

Some Lesser Known Facts

Manav Thakkar played various sports, such as skating and gymnastics, in several competitions before he chose table tennis as his professional sport.
His interest in table tennis started at age five after watching his parents play it in their leisure time.
His professional training started under coach Vahed Malubhaiwala at the Sufaiz Academy in Surat.
At 11, he was admitted to PSPB Table Tennis Academy in Ajmer, Rajasthan, where he had a tough time adjusting to staying at a hostel and a different cuisine.
Since 2013, he has been trained at the academy in Saarbrucken, Germany under the sponsorship of TIBHAR Tibor Harangozo GmbH (a German table tennis manufacturer) and playing for the club, Alliance Nîmes-Montpellier Tennis de Table (ANMTT) in France.
In 2018, he was ranked the world’s number one at the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) under-18 level with 6396 points.
In 2019, he was ranked the world’s number one in the under-21 level with 6780 points at the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Challenge Plus Benemax-Virgo North American Open in Markham, Canada.
He is the third Indian after Achanta Sharath Kamal and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran who competed in the German top division Bundesliga league.
Since 2019, he has been part of the franchise U-Mumba TT (owned by Unilazer Ventures Private Limited) in Mumbai for the Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) League.
He was part of the franchise Shamal Squad and participated in the Gujarat Super League Table Tennis Season 1 in 2022.
In May 2024, he was selected as a member of the Indian Table Tennis team for the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
He considers veteran table tennis player and Olympian Achanta Sharath Kamal in high regard and as his mentor.
In June 2024, Manav and Harmeet Desai won the men’s doubles title at the World Table Tennis Contender in Lagos, Nigeria.
As of 2 July 2024, he was ranked world number 57, according to the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) ranking.
In 2024, he rejoined the franchise Shamal Squad for the Gujarat Super League Table Tennis Season 2.
Manav Thakkar includes yoga as part of his fitness regime.