Kanak Jha

Kanak Jha (born June 19, 2000) is an American table tennis player of Indian origin. He competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in the men's singles event and as part of the American team in the men's team event.[1][2]

Kanak Jha

Personal information
Nationality	American
Born	(2000-06-19) 19 June 2000
Sport
Country	United States
Sport	Table tennis
Medal record Men's table tennis Representing the  United States Pan American Games 2019 Lima Team 2019 Lima Singles 2019 Lima Mixed doubles Youth Olympic Games 2018 Buenos Aires Singles

He was the youngest American athlete to participate in the 2016 Olympics and is also the first American born in the 2000s to qualify for the Olympics.[3]

Jha also competed at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics in the boy's event, in which he won a bronze medal.

Recently at the ITTF Team World Cup, Kanak Jha pulled an upset in a game against world number 6 Wong Chun Ting of Hong Kong. He is currently ranked number 26 in the world, the highest rank in the United States. The next best player in the US is Nikhil Kumar, who is ranked 179 in the world showing that he is indisputably currently the best American table tennis player. In addition he won his 4th straight US National title in 2019, showing his dominance. His home club is the World Champions Table Tennis Academy, in which he trains when not at a tournament or training with the national team. Kanak pulled off a bronze medal at the 2019 Pan American Games in mixed doubles and singles.

References

1. "Kanak Jha". Rio 2016. Archived from the original on August 28, 2016. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
2. "Men's Singles - Standings". Rio 2016. Archived from the original on August 27, 2016. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
3. Knowlton, Emmett (2016-07-08). "Meet Kanak Jha, the 16-year-old table tennis prodigy and first American born in the 2000s to qualify for the Olympics". Business Insider. Retrieved 2017-11-23.