Hailing from Naraina Vihar, New Delhi, Manika Batra is currently India’s star Table Tennis player. From stunning top players in the sport to winning medals in Commonwealth Games and Asian Games, Batra is now focused on the main goal as the paddler makes her second appearance in the Olympics. An example of ‘try, try till you succeed’, the youngster has had her fair share of downs in her career.
Batra represented India in the 2014 Commonwealth Games and Asian Games but came back empty handed. But from 2015 onwards, Batra’s stride changed as she won three medals in the Commonwealth TT Championship, followed by winning three golds and one silver in the South Asian Games in 2016. The Indian paddler qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympics; however, her stay was cut short as she was eliminated from the tournament in the first round of the women’s individual event. The paddler then went on to shine in the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games and Asian Games and now, Batra is all set for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Batra was also bestowed with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award (2020) and an Arjuna Awardee.
Age - 26
Sports/Discipline - Table Tennis
Working Ranking - 63
First Olympic Games - Rio 2016
Major Achievements
Asian Games
— Bronze - Mixed Team, 2018 Jakarta
Commonwealth Games
— Gold - Women’s Team, 2018 Gold Coast
— Gold - Women’s Singles, 2018 Gold Coast
— Silver - Women’s Doubles, 2018 Gold Coast
— Bronze - Mixed Doubles, 2018 Gold Coast
Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships
— Silver - Women’s Team, 2015 Surat
— Silver - Women’s Double, 2015 Surat
— Bronze - Women’s Singles, 2015 Surat
South Asian Games
— Gold - Women’s Team, 2016 Guwahati/Shillong
— Gold - Women’s Double, 2016 Guwahati/Shillong
— Gold - Mixed Doubles, 2016 Guwahati/Shillong
— Silver - Women’s Singles, 2016 Guwahati/Shillong
Tokyo Olympics Qualification
Manika Batra met the quota due to her ranking to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, representing the South Asia zone. Batra was handed a 2-4 loss by fellow compatriot Sutirtha Mukherjee, but due to her ranking, Batra booked her ticket for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Recent Performances
Manika Batra regained the number one position in global rankings following her hat-trick of gold medals at the World Cup Stage 3. The 27-year-old from Ranchi, who had achieved the top spot for the first time in 2012, claimed gold medals in three recurve events - women’s individual, team and mixed pair. Deepika had become only the second Indian woman after Dola Banerjee to grab the numero uno spot in June 2012 after claiming her first individual recurve World Cup gold medal at Antalya, Turkey.
2016 Rio Olympics Performance
Manika Batra’s appearance in the 2016 Rio Olympics was short-lived as the Indian paddler was knocked out by Poland’s Katarzyna Grzybowska in the first round of the women’s singles event.
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