The hearts of countless Indians swelled with pride as Manika Batra made history on 29 July, 2024, by becoming the first Indian table tennis player to reach the round of 16 in the Olympic Games singles competition.
Her victory came after a 4-0 thrashing of Prithika Pavade of France. What adds to the thrill is that Manika is currently ranked 28th in the world, 10 places lower than Pavade. She secured her victory with game scores of 11-9, 11-6, 11-9, and 11-7 against her French opponent of Indian origin.
After securing the title of the first Indian table tennis player to reach Olympics pre-quarterfinals, Manika reflected through a post on Instagram, “Reaching the pre-quarterfinals of the Women’s Singles in Olympics has been a milestone, but I always want more. As long as I have a dream, an aim, I will keep doing my best.”
The 29-year-old hails from Delhi and is the youngest of three siblings. At the young age of four, she was introduced to the sport by her sister, Aanchal, and brother Sahil, both of whom also played table tennis. It became clear that she was destined for greatness when she won a state-level under-8 tournament, prompting her to train under coach Sandeep Gupta at Hans Raj Model School.
Manika’s rise to fame began with a silver medal in the under-21 category at the 2011 Chile Open. She also achieved quarterfinal finishes while representing India at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and the 2014 Asian Games.
Her breakthrough arrived at the 2015 Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships, where she won three medals, including silver in the women’s team and doubles events and bronze in singles.
Despite her achievements, Manika grew up hearing, “Table tennis is a waste of time, be a doctor or engineer instead.” Growing up in Delhi, her relatives taunted her for choosing sports as a career. But her mother, Sushma Batra, had full faith in her daughter’s dream to play for India, while her father is her cheerleader.
With limited means, they struggled to afford the equipment and make the arrangements for tournaments, yet her mother kept encouraging Manika. “People asked me why she is wasting her time in sport, but I always thought that sports had potential. She has proven me right,” her mother said.
The 2018 Asian Games saw Manika secure three gold medals in women’s doubles and women’s team events. That same year, she qualified for the Rio Olympics but was defeated in the first round.
Manika’s most significant achievement came at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia, where she led India to a historic gold medal in the women’s team event, defeating the dominant Singapore team. She also won India’s first-ever silver medal in women’s doubles and claimed a monumental gold in the singles event, bringing home four medals.
In 2018, she was honoured with the Arjuna Award, India’s second-highest sporting honour. Two years later, in 2020, she achieved the pinnacle of national sports recognition by receiving the Khel Ratna, the country’s highest sporting honour.
In subsequent years, Manika continued her success, winning team gold at the 2019 Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships. Her achievement of becoming the first paddler to reach round of 16 surpasses her previous record at the Tokyo Olympics, where she became the first Indian women’s table tennis player to reach the round of 32 in singles.
In the same Tokyo Games, Achanta Sharath Kamal had also reached the round of 32 in the men’s singles.
In 2021, she won the WTT Contender Budapest mixed doubles and the WTT Contender Lasko women’s doubles. She competed in the inaugural WTT Grand Smash event in Singapore in 2022 and achieved a career-high ranking of world number four in women’s doubles with Archana Girish Kamath.
Manika aspires to do for table tennis in India what PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal did for badminton in the country. “Like table tennis, badminton wasn’t so famous (in India),” Manika said. “But the amount of recognition they have got for the sport, I would also like to take table tennis to greater heights in India.”
Whilst table tennis was her first love, Manika turned down modelling offers in her teens to concentrate on the sport. Her dedication has not only brought her personal success but has also inspired a generation of young table tennis players in India.
Her laurels indeed make her a true icon of Indian table tennis.
Edited by Padmashree Pande.
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