No earlier than a week ago, the world witnessed India create history at the Gold Coast Commonwealth as a 22-year-old girl from the country's capital watched with well-concealed emotions the Indian tricolour rise higher and higher before her eyes. Manika Batra had just become the first Indian woman to have won a table tennis individual Gold medal in the Commonwealth Games, and no wonder it was going to be a moment to cherish for the young prodigy for years to come.
Ever since her return home, laden with a rich medal haul — a team Gold, an individual Gold, a Silver in the doubles and a mixed doubles Bronze — a usually shy Manika seems to be enjoying the reception she has been offered following her successful campaign, and has now dealt with statements that have been eager to question her mentality towards more hard-hitting competitors, namely China, Japan and Korea.
With the Commonwealth Games impressively done and dusted, the trial by fire for Indian table tennis is likely to come against the Chinese, the Koreans and the Japanese as early as August this year in the Asian Games. Manika, however, remains undeterred of the fearsome reputation these countries hold.
"It's just our mentality," Manika pointed out at a felicitation ceremony here on Friday. "As soon as it occurs to us 'Oh, it's China' or 'Oh, it's Korea', we lose then and there," she added before highlighting her focus on performance rather than on fear. "I just want to continue motivating myself and my team that we should cast this mentality aside. All we must focus upon is what we have picked up during all those years of training and then deliver our hundred percent when the time comes, instead of dwelling upon the mental fear we have created within ourselves towards countries like China and Korea."
Manika's stance clearly marks the emergence of a young leader in India's table tennis fraternity. This follows an announcement by the country's seasoned paddler Sharath Kamal, wherein he declared his willingness to pass the baton of responsibilities to Manika Batra. Currently placed 48th in world rankings, Kamal has won seven Commonwealth Games medals for India, including four Gold, two Bronze and one Silver, and is also remembered as the gold medallist of the 16th Commonwealth Table Tennis Championship held in 2004 in Kuala lumpur, an accomplishment that won him the Arjuna Award during the same year.
Manika Batra, the recently coroneted queen of Indian table tennis, considered herself privileged to receive the burden of responsibilities from Sharath Kamal.
"I am very happy and thankful that he is transferring his responsibilities to me. And I feel really grateful that a player like Sharath bhaiya , who has brought so many medals to the country, is trusting me with these duties. I will definitely try my best to fulfill those responsibilities and win more medals for India," Manika said.
However, the 22-year-old remains wary of going through stints in Europe, unlike Sharath Kamal who has enjoyed spells in Spain and Sweden and is currently playing in the German Bundesliga.
"My style of play is quite different and I don't think anybody else will understand it better than my coach, Sandeep sir does. So, at the moment I would like to focus on training close to Sandeep sir here in India and improve in the style of play that defines me," Manika explained.
The 'style of play' in question refers to Manika's efficient use of pimpled rubber on her paddle which saw her demolish her opponents at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
Along these lines, Manika also expressed her hesitation towards opting for foreign coaches, saying, "Sandeep sir has been my mentor since I was four and no one else can be in a better position than him to understand my style of play. Any other coach at this point will take time to understand my style of play. For me that would mean starting all over again."
‘a better version of me’
Besides coach Sandeep Gupta another character that has played a key role in shaping Manika Batra is that of Neha Aggarwal. Emerging as the only woman from India to feature in table tennis at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, Neha explained how a Sandeep Gupta led Stag table tennis academy inspired Manika to take her road to glory.
"I played in the Olympics when I was eighteen. Manika, who is six years younger than me took inspiration from there as we instilled a belief in her that she can do even better. We told her that simply representing India at the Olympics should not be the aim anymore. I was a representative in 2008, but Manika has just bettered it. And that inspiration has come along with a journey that lasted a decade. It took 10 years for Sandeep sir to bring a big result. Ten years, they worked together, learning from my career, trying not to repeat the mistakes that we made back then and reducing every margin of error so that she could be a better version of me," Neha revealed.
She then went on to note the qualities that define Manika Batra. "She is one athlete who just accepts so well. She learns and adapts really well. She is smart. She understands the game, contemplates it and applies it to her performance. And that I think is a mark of a true champion," she said.
The 2008 Olympian continues to be a role model for aspiring young players at Stag academy, admitting that the young ones still count on her whenever they find difficulties in training.