With youngsters at her heels, Manika Batra aims to level up her game
4 min readPanajiJul 23, 2026 11:09 PM Just like she twiddles her racket to switch from spin to anti-spin mid-rally, Manika Batra has turned off the offensive switch in the Asian Games saga. The public, prolonged episode began with her non-selection in the core India squad and left her closure-less, seeking answers. A “mentally exhausted” Manika, who is the country’s top-ranked women’s singles paddler (world number 51) as per the latest ITTF rankings, has moved on nevertheless.
Iffy recent form and age have not diminished her dream of an ever-elusive Olympic medal. For that, however, she needs to qualify first. “Of course, I have to improve my ranking. And I am working towards that thing every day in my training, in my tournaments,” Manika tells The Indian Express, three days after neutralizing three straight losses with three straight wins in the ongoing Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) edition.
“Till next year I have this goal. And I will give my best to improve my ranking till the end of this year, so that I can have that confidence back.”
Confidence is a recurring theme in her speech as well as gameplay. It is especially evident when the 31-year-old uses her paddle’s pimpled black rubber to exert control, and conspicuous its absence when she loses to green players such as Syndrela Das and Sayali Wani.
One might imagine that not being able to twiddle her racket at enough opportune moments has something to do with the latter, but the three-time Olympian is quick to refute that hypothesis. “It depends on how the player is. If I am playing against a fast-paced player I cannot twiddle more, because they are good against that. So, I have to play with my pimples more.”
‘Happy youngsters coming up’
Defeats in UTT and the domestic circuit hurt her cause, but she saw a big-picture silver lining in them. “Syndrela beat me 3-0, and I was really happy. Not happy that I lost, but happy to see so many youngsters coming up and doing so well.”
Their performances are raising Indian table tennis’ profile, she believes, and also motivating her to step up. She might shake up her approach in future competitions, in response. How? Keep guessing.Story continues below this ad
“I don’t want to reveal that. You will see. But I am really happy how I am right now.”
She philosophizes to explain: “I will win sometimes or lose. But that doesn’t matter for me because I know how much I am improving, and how much I am not. I will keep on working so that my confidence level improves. Ek din, woh sabko dikhega (one day everyone will see that).”
This demonstration is important to her, perhaps given the weight of expectations ever since her Commonwealth Games and Asiad medals. Manika says she has gotten better at managing these expectations over the years. “Earlier I was not good at this, but now I handle it really well because when I think I am at that level where people will expect a lot from me, I feel proud of myself.”
And of course, she adds, pressure will be there. “If there is no pressure, I should sit at home and do nothing. For me, pressure is always privilege.”
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Manika is likely to enjoy this privilege as long as her career lasts. Until then, she will keep twiddling—between offence and defence, and hope and despair.
Delhi complete UTT semis line-up
Manika Batra’s win over Sutirtha Mukherjee proved to be her last outing in UTT season 7 as Ahmedabad APL Pipers crashed out in the league phase. Dabang Delhi TTC’s resounding 10-5 victory over PBG Pune Jaguars on Thursday meant both Ahmedabad and Pune missed out on the semi-finals, as Delhi joined Dempo Goa Challengers, HVR Kolkata Thunder Blades and U Mumba TT in the knockouts. Goa will take on Delhi in the first semi-final on Friday, while Kolkata meet Mumbai on Saturday.
