© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
It was well past midnight in India on Day 3 action at the Paris Olympics when a significant milestone was achieved in Indian sport. Never before had a Table Tennis player reached the round of 16 in a singles event at the Olympic Games. And, not for the first time in her career, Manika Batra stood on the cusp of becoming the first at something in Indian table tennis. She’s no stranger to that feeling. And with a breathtaking display of both attack and defence, she went where no Indian had gone before, becoming the first ever paddler to reach the singles round of 16 at the Olympic Games.
The most impressive aspect of the win, apart from the milestone itself was how dominant Manika was against a higher-ranked player, as she cruised to a fluent 4-0 win over world number 18 and home favourite Prithika Pavade. The 29-year-old Manika dominated from start to finish for a 11-9 11-6 11-9 11-7 win over Prithika, who is ranked 10 places above the Indian at 18. Manika had previously reached the round of 32 at the Tokyo Olympics and she bettered that performance on Monday.
“I am happy that I beat a French player in Paris. I defeated a higher-ranked player. I did not think of creating history and making the pre-quarters, there are more rounds, I will take it match by match and give my best as I always do,” Manika told PTI after her match.
It was a sluggish start for Manika at an arena where Felix Lebrun had defeated Harmeet Desai the previous night in front of a raucous support. Surely Manika must have known from then what she was up against. It wasn’t just Prithika, who has her roots in Pondicherry where her father is from, but it was also the home crowd. But once Manika got into the match, she silenced the crowd for the large part, barely letting the left-handed Prithika a way into the proceedings.
Manika, who was cheered on by the rest of the Indian contingent from the stands, spoke about her tactics post game.”I had planned to play to her forehand as discussed with my coach but I was getting the points on her backhand, so I did not change the tactics. I did play a few shot on her forehand too, I did not want her to think that I am playing only on her backhand. It was a tough match. Staying relaxed helps me both on and off the court. I do breathing exercises that help me during the match.I will give my best whoever I play against in the next round,” she said.
Manika is likely to face world No 13 Miu Hirano next if the Japanese paddler wins her round of 32 match.
(With PTI inputs)
