New Delhi: Senior Indian women’s table tennis player Manika Batra believes that Indian contingent has the best shot to win an Olympics medal at the upcoming Summer Games in Paris, starting from July 26. The six-member Indian table tennis contingent recently completed their final training in Saarbrucken, Germany, before they moved to Paris on Sunday to join the Olympics Village.
Manika has been a household name to present India’s picture in the ‘ping pong’ sport at the continental level as well as the world. Having won four Commonwealth Games medals and a historic Asian Games bronze in 2018, Manika propelled her status to India’s top woman paddler. However, she is yet to win a medal at the Olympics after making appearances at Rio in 2016 and Tokyo in 2021.
In fact, India has never seen any paddler finish at the podium in any of the five categories in table tennis. But Manika, who played a key role in India’s first ever qualification for women’s team event at the Olympics, is confident that the paddlers can end the drought this year.
“India qualified for the first time, this is a huge achievement… I am really happy with how we are working together (at the camp). I think we have a shot at the medal and we should give our best,” Manika told Ultimate Table Tennis in an interview.
“The growth of women’s table tennis in India is really inspiring. I see many of my fellow players playing really well. Everyone in the team is motivated and training very hard. Women’s table tennis in India will only grow further for sure,” she added.
Manika Batra won’t repeat mistakes from Tokyo Olympics
Manika Batra’s Tokyo Olympics participation wasn’t idealistic after she was caught in a rift with then Indian coach Soumyadeep Roy. She lost to Austria’s Sofia Polcanova in the round of women’s singles in that edition. A series of uncanny events fold up following the Tokyo Olympics fiasco which jeopardised Manika’s reign at the top.
Coming into the Paris Olympics, young and two-time national champion Sreeja Akula toppled the Delhi-born paddler as India’s top-ranked women player after attaining her career-best ranking of 24.
“I have learned many things from the last Olympics, and I am not going to make those mistakes again. My mindset has changed since then, I am calmer and have more confidence in myself. I have been working on my stamina and my agility, and my ultimate aim is to challenge for a medal,” Manika said.
“But, I will go slowly. I will try to be in that zone and give my best. I will go round by round and not think of a medal too early. I will give my best for my country,” she added.
Manika regained her form after reaching the quarter-final of Saudi Super Smash 2024, where she upstaged World No.2 Wang Manyu of China and World No.14 Nina Mittelham of Germany. She earned 350 points in that tournament, becoming the first woman paddler from the country to break into top 25 in World ranking.
Manika Batra, who plays for Bengaluru Smashers in the Ultimate Table Tennis league, has credited the tournament for the growth of women’s table tennis players as they get to rub shoulders with some top overseas players in the world.
“UTT really helped us because we get to practice with foreign players, play matches [against them]. We get good match practice,” the two-time national champion said.
Senior Indian women’s table tennis player Manika Batra believes that Indian contingent has the best shot to win an Olympics medal at the upcoming Summer Games in Paris, starting from July 26. The six-member Indian table tennis contingent recently completed their final training in Saarbrucken, Germany, before they moved to Paris on Sunday to join the Olympics Village. Sports Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
