Was Manika Batra a little out of line or justified in her demand to get on-court access to personal coach Sanmay Paranjape? Whatever the real reason, a day ago the table tennis player’s blunt refusal to seek advice from chief national coach Soumyadeep Roy, during her first-round match against Britain’s Tin-Tin Ho, generated some controversy.
On Sunday, Manika rose above all the chatter and negative talk, scripting a sensational, come-from-behind victory against World No. 32 Ukrainian Margaryta Pesotska in a seven-game thriller.
The win brought cheer and served as a timely reminder of Manika’s considerable abilities. The 26-year-old Delhi girl, ranked 30 places below Pesotska at World No. 62, came back from two games down to upset the Ukrainian 4-11, 4-11, 11-7, 12-10, 8-11, 11-5, 11-6 in her women’s singles second-round match, which lasted a pulsating, excruciating 56 minutes.
Pesotska is coached by her mother Margarita Anatoliina, a former USSR and Ukraine champion.
Manika, the country’s top-ranked women’s table-tennis player, will next face Austria’s Sofia Polcanova, the World No. 16, in the third round on Monday, and the entire country will hold its breath in anticipation of another giant-killing act from the talented paddler.
This story is from the July 26, 2021 edition of The Times of India Delhi.
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This story is from the July 26, 2021 edition of The Times of India Delhi.
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