New Delhi, January 30: G. Sathiyan became the first Indian to breach the sub-30 mark in the world as he reached a career-high ranking of 28 in men’s singles.

The Chennai-based paddler with his ground-breaking ranking gained three places from the year-ending ranking of No. 31, thus overtaking Sharath Kamal in the race to be the first to be among the 20s in global rankings.

Sharath, who won became the first paddler in the country to win a ninth national title and listed among this year’s Padma Shri awardees, was placed 33—a couple of places down from his career-best of 31.

 “Indeed, it has been the best year for me so far. More than the medals and the Arjuna Award I received during 2018, I am very happy with the opportunities I got to play and beat some of the world-class performers,” said Sathiyan from Germany, as he looked back at the route that brought him this far in the space of 13 months.

For the records, he had reached the round of 16 in three World Tour events—Qatar Open, Australian Open and the Austrian Open—besides making the main draw of the Korea and Hong Kong Opens.

Not to be left behind, Manika Batra, became the first Indian woman paddler to break into the sub-50 mark as she is placed No. 47 in the world. She jumped three places from her January ranking of 51.