PANAJI
The golden girl of Indian table tennis, Manika Batra received the loudest cheers in the penultimate match but the home support did not count for much as the crowd favourite went down fighting 1-3 (6-11, 3-11, 11-9, 7-11) against World No. 20 Qian Tianyi of China in the Round of 16 of WTT Star Contender Goa in Taleigao on Friday.
Against an opponent she had beaten in their only encounter at the Contender Doha 2022 in a 5-game duel, the prospect of another match-up served the promise it could go the distance again. In a media interaction after her disappointing loss, Batra answering to a question put forth by The Goan revealed, "Today's game was totally different from our earlier match as she (left-handed Chinese opponent Tianyi) changed her strategy. I think I gave my best. I made a few mistakes and I have to work on that. Of course, I am sad, but it happens in every athlete's life. I now just need to prepare myself for the next tournament," the top-ranked Indian women's singles player stated.
Noticeably from her last singles game against Puerto Rican Adriana Diaz (World No. 14), where she had begun with a defensive approach in the initial two sets, Batra took an aggressive option from the get-go against an attacking 23-year-old Tuanyi. Quizzed if she was taken off guard to changing her strategy, World No. 34 replied, "I gave my best. I played an attacking game and was not defensive at all. I missed some balls from my backhand side. But I will keep working hard."
Having a tendency to play and be on the right side of a lot of 5-game matches in recent months, did it play on her mind that she could stretch this game as well? "I never like to give up. So when I was 2-0 down, I was telling myself you can do it. I lost the match, but next time I will give my best," Batra responded.
She acknowledges the presence of her new coach Aman, in helping her perform better. "I have been taking guidance and training under him before the Asia Cup. He worked on a lot of technical aspects of my game, like the backhand and forehand. It has not made a huge change in my game because as an athlete I am at that stage (in my career). But he has helped change my mindset that I can beat players. He likes to motivate me. I like that a lot," the star Indian paddler acknowledged.
