MUMBAI: It hits you as to just how much
Indian table tennis
has progressed in recent years as you hear
Manika Batra
express regret over the women's team narrowly failing to beat heavyweights China in the just concluded
ITTF
World Table Tennis Team Championships in
Busan
.
"Thoda sa chance miss ho gaya to beat them," Manika told TOI on Tuesday. "But Indian table tennis is really growing now."
The country's leading women's player was referring to the team's 2-3 defeat in their opening group tie against the Chinese.
Indeed, what brought the Indian women on the cusp of a famous win were
Ayhika Mukherjee
and
Sreeja Akula
's stunning upsets of the World No 1
Sun Yingsha
and World No 2 Wang Yidi.
While Manika lost both her matches in that tie, the 2018 Commonwealth Games gold medallist would bounce back to play her part in a campaign which ended at the last 16 stage against Chinese Taipei, but was ultimately still good enough to see India make the cut for the Paris Olympics.
For Manika, Busan was as good as she has ever fared in a team competition. "I think this World Championships in Korea was my best team tournament," she said. "Of course happy that, as we will know by the beginning of March, we will qualify for the Olympics. I'm really happy with the team performance and my performance, how I played against every player and each team. How I was playing like a fighter."
While her maiden Olympic Games in Tokyo ended in tears following a third-round defeat in the singles event, Manika said she was satisfied with how her preparations for Paris were coming along. "I'm really happy with how I'm training, whether it's my mental training, whether it's physical or on the table.
"I don't want to make any changes. Be it skills or techniques, I just want to go on with how I am doing things and work really harder for Olympics this time," said the 28-year-old who has been backed by Reliance Foundation for the past two years.
Along with that of the national federation, it's the kind of support, she believes, has contributed to the jaw-dropping results Indian table tennis has seen in recent times. "First of all, the support we are getting nowadays, there's a big difference. Because of that, players can focus more on training, their tournaments.
"Yes, recently there have been some very good performances by many players, like Ayhika and Sutirtha (Mukherjee) played really well," said the World No 36, referring to the pair's historic bronze medal accomplishment at the
Asian Games
last year.
"I'm really happy with the support we are getting. That they have that thinking that 'this person is capable of performing and doing well at the Olympics'. This kind of thinking has changed in India."
As for her own Olympic ambition, Manika does seem to be dreaming big as Paris 2024 draws near. "Of course, I want to win a medal at the Olympics. We have a few tournaments before that where I would like to improve my ranking, in singles and mixed doubles as well," she said.
English (US) ·