Manika Batra reacts after winning her match against Yihan Zhou of Singapore on Sunday. (Source: AP)
They spoke about Singaporean paddlers with such reverence that Indian women sounded more like fan girls than competitors. They seemed happy just to be playing them, the body language suggesting they had given up even before stepping on the court.
The mindset bothered Massimo Constantini. The chief coach summoned his players for a quick chat. “We have only achieved what was obvious since we are the number 2 team here,” he said after his team defeated England to seal a spot in the final. “Now we have to show that we can do something extraordinary and prove that they are also humans.”
These were inspirational words, but Mouma Das knew how tough it would be to put the coach’s words into actions. She has been trying to beat Singapore since the sport was first introduced in the 2002 Commonwealth Games. Each time, they’ve failed. Singapore are to Commonwealth Games table tennis what China are to the world game. They have won the gold medal every time since the 2002 Manchester Games. And, deep down, Das feared it would be the same again on Sunday.
A career best
But Manika Batra had other plans. The world No. 58 Batra recorded the biggest win of her career by humbling world number four and multiple Olympic medallist Feng Tianwei 3-2 before easing past Yihan Zhou, ranked 42 places below her, 3-0 to engineer one of the biggest shocks of the Games and help Indian women’s team win its maiden table tennis gold medal.
In her first match, Manika had stunned Feng 11-8 8-11 7-11 11-9 11-7 before Mengyu Yu restored parity win a straight game win over veteran Madhurika Patkar. However, Patkar combined with Das to exact revenge. The duo defeated Zhou and Mengyu Yu 11-7 11-6 8-11 11-7 to give India a 2-1 lead in the final.
Manika then proved too good for Yihan, who failed to read her deceptive strokes. The Singaporean put a back hand long as the Indian completed a 11-7 11-4 11-7 rout, leading to wild celebrations in the Indian camp.
Manika said the change in strategy, where she used a pimpled rubber on the backhand proved crucial.
“I’ve practised a great deal with Massimo to attack more from my backhand using the pimpled rubber… I think that really surprised Singapore. It’s the first time I had ever played Feng Tianwei, but previously when I played Zhou Yihan I lost,” Manika said. “Even in my wildest dreams, I had not thought that I will beat an Olympic medallist.”
This is only the second time India has won a gold medal in table tennis in the team event at the Commonwealth Games. In 2006 Melbourne CWG, the Sharath Kamal-led men’s team had achieved a similar feat. As was the case back then, this could be a watershed moment for women’s table tennis in the country.