It’s a match made in Poland over a decade ago. Manav Thakkar was 14 at the time and looked destined for an early exit from the tournament in 2014. It was then the young paddler heard someone egging him on, guiding him through each point. He won that game and the match, progressing to the final, where he finished runner-up. All along, the little voice was a constant source of support and guidance.
“Everyone at the court was like, who is this guy? The first time I turned, I saw this lanky kid with spiky hair. No one there thought Manush (Shah) was a player, but I had seen him on a few occasions as part of the cadets. He coached me that entire tournament and two years later, we teamed up as juniors on the national circuit,” Thakkar recalls.
That partnership has quietly gone about making steady progress over the years, patient with each other and consistent in their approach. Then last year, they started making rapid gains—since July 2025, they’ve won a Contender event in Nigeria and made a final in Brazil, besides three semi-final and four quarter-final appearances on the World Table Tennis circuit. Their reward arrived this month when they climbed to World No.2 in the men’s doubles—the best ranking for an Indian table tennis pair.
“What is more important is that we are able to match up against the top teams. Even in the losses, we have been competing well. It has given us the belief that we are up there among the best,” Thakkar, 26, says.
“Even as we keep improving, we know what we bring to the table—the confidence that we can win against anyone at the moment,” Shah, 25, adds.
The results have been promising amid a rather baffling training routine they’ve been following over the last year. For a few weeks, Thakkar played for a club in France while Shah was in the Czech Republic. India camps were the only time they could work together for a few days at a stretch. The rest of the time, they would travel to tournaments and either practise before it started or during the rest days in between.
“We don’t rely on separate training blocks. The idea is to play as many matches as possible, because that’s where we gain a better understanding of our game. The pressure that comes in match situations is irreplaceable, and playing and winning against good opposition adds to our confidence,” Thakkar says.
Every season, the duo signs up for as many as 13 tournaments. Besides singles and men’s doubles, Shah also competes in the mixed doubles with Diya Chitale, currently ranked World No.5. The schedule can get taxing—in Lagos this May, Shah played 12 matches in six days en route to the men’s doubles and mixed doubles titles, besides making the semi-final in the singles. Managing the workload requires a tailored approach and the ability to adapt to situations.
It’s been a constant process of learning, both on and off the table. Delayed schedules have often ended with midnight room service and an early start to play the first match the following day. Indian restaurants need to be located in advance, else it’s the usual Italian or Mexican fare that they rely on as vegetarians.
Though they’ve been working with strength and conditioning coach Manav Mukund and sport psychologist Gayatri Vartak, the lack of a full-time travelling coach means they only have each other for support. Every win or loss is closely reviewed through the match recording, whether it’s in the hotel room or on the next flight out.
“There’s constant discussion to analyse performance and arrive at solutions to iron out issues. And when it all gets too much, we simply take a break and step out for a meal or tune into the latest Kapil Sharma episode,” Shah says.
Maintaining form during the next few tournaments will be essential to ensure better seeding at the Asian Games, their big goal for the year. The previous edition in Hangzhou in 2023 was a revelation. Still lower down the pecking order on the Indian team, they made the quarter-final and ran the top seeds, Jang Woo-jin and Lim Jong-hoon, close in spite of their 2-3 loss.
“We were underdogs and there were no expectations. This time we will be playing more events and there will be pressure which we are really looking forward to. That’s what we train for. We are a lot more mature and I hope we can translate our learning into a medal,” Thakkar says.
At the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028, the men’s and women’s doubles events are being reintroduced for the first time since 2004. While they continue to grow as singles players—Thakkar is World No.38 and Shah is World No.40—doubles will be a priority in the time ahead.
“It’s something we are good at and have enough time to work towards, so it wasn’t a difficult decision,” Shah says.
Hours before they were to face-off in the Ultimate Table Tennis in Goa last week, they were working out schedules when they could train together and booking tickets for their upcoming tournaments. This routine of travelling and competing is a familiar one since they first turned out for India as teenagers. Just that their only job then was to play, while all other logistics were handled by someone else. These days, living out of a bag is perhaps as arduous as taking on the grind of the competitive circuit.
“Since we are responsible for everything, we are continuously making reservations, moving from one city to another, locating meals and doing laundry. While we are used to it now, it gets really boring and exhausting at times. We have a good laugh when we look back at the early days, the time when all this packing and unpacking was really exciting business,” Shah says.
Shail Desai is a Mumbai-based freelance writer.