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Manav Thakkar Age, Family, Biography

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Hometown: Surat
Age: 24 Years
Marital Status: Unmarried

Manav Thakkar image

Bio/Wiki
Full NameManav Vikash Thakkar
Other NameManav Vikas Thakkar
ProfessionTable Tennis Player
Physical Stats
Height (approx.)5' 10" (178 cm)
Eye ColourBlack
Hair ColourBlack
Table Tennis
Coach/Mentor• Anshul Garg
• Francisco Santos
• Deepak Malik
Manav Thakkar with Deepak Malik
• Yen Wei
• Massimo Constantini
• Vahed Malubhaiwala
Manav Thakkar with his first coach Vahed Malubhaiwala
Grip TypeShakehand grip
Playing StyleOffensive
Playing HandRight
MedalsGold Medal
• 2023: Men's singles at UTT National Ranking Table Tennis Championships in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh
Manav Thakkar with the gold medal at the UTT National Ranking Tournament
• 2023: Men's Singles at the UTT National Ranking TT Championship in Hyderabad
Manav Thakkar with the Gold Medal and trophy 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
Manav Thakkar at the 84th Senior National Championship
• 2023: Men's team at Asian Table Tennis Championships in Pyeongchang, South Korea

• 2021: Men's team at Asian Table Tennis Championships in Doha, Qatar

• 2021: Men's Double team at Asian Table Tennis Championships in Doha, Qatar
Manav Thakkar with Bronze Medals at the Asian championship 2021
• 2018: Men's team at 18th Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia

Titles
• 2023: Singles Title at the UTT National-ranking Table Tennis Championships
• 2024: Men's doubles title at the World Table Tennis Contender in Lagos, Nigeria
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
Manav Thakkar receiving Gujarat State's Khel Pratibha Puraskar
• Consistent Performer of the Year Award from the GoSports Foundation in 2017
Manav Thakkar receiving GoSports Foundation Consistent Performer of the Year Award
• National Child Award for Exceptional Achievement in sport from the Honourable President of India in 2015
Manav Thakkar with other national exceptional achievement awardees
Personal Life
Date of Birth14 April 2000 (Friday)
Age (as of 2024)24 Years
BirthplaceRajkot, Gujarat
Zodiac signAries
NationalityIndian
HometownSurat
Educational QualificationPursuing B.A. in Psychology and English Literature (as of June 2024)
Food HabitEggetarian
HobbiesWatching films and web series
Social Media• Instagram
• Facebook
• Twitter
Relationships & More
Marital StatusUnmarried
Family
ParentsFather- Vikas Thakkar (ophthalmologist)
Mother- Kalpana Thakkar (ayurveda doctor)
Manav Thakkar with his parents
Favourites
CricketerMS Dhoni
Table Tennis PlayerJan-Ove Waldner
FoodThepla
BeverageCoffee

An image of Manav Thakkar

Some Lesser Known Facts About Manav Thakkar

  • 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.

    Childhood image of Manav Thakkar playing table tennis

    Childhood image of Manav Thakkar playing table tennis

  • 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 in a hostel and a different cuisine.
  • Since 2013, he has been taught in an academy in Saarbrucken, Germany, under the sponsorship of TIBHAR Tibor Harangozo GmbH (a German table tennis equipment manufacturer). He has also been playing for the club, Alliance Nîmes-Montpellier Tennis de Table (ANMTT) in France since the same year.
  • 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.
  • 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.

    Manav Thakkar on the poster of Shamal Squad in the Gujarat Season League

    Manav Thakkar on the poster of Shamal Squad in the Gujarat Season League

  • 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.

    Manav Thakkar with Achanta Sharath Kamal

    Manav Thakkar with Achanta Sharath Kamal

  • In June 2024, Manav and Harmeet Desai won the men’s doubles title at the World Table Tennis Contender in Lagos, Nigeria.

    Manav Thakkar and Harmeet Desai with the men's doubles title

    Manav Thakkar and Harmeet Desai with the men’s doubles title

  • In 2024, he played for the franchise Shamal Squad for the Gujarat Super League Table Tennis Season 2.
  • As of June 2024, he is employed with the Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) as a grade A1 officer.
  • Manav Thakkar includes yoga as part of his fitness regime.

    Manav Thakkar doing yoga with his family

    Manav Thakkar doing yoga with his family