Table Tennis has gained a lot of popularity after my four medals, claims Manika Batra

Batra was part of the Indian contingent that traveled to Glasgow in 2014 and returned home empty handed without a single medal in table tennis. However, Batra caused a major uproar at the 2018 Gold Coast CWG when she four medals in the four events she participated in, out of which two were gold, one silver and one was a bronze medal.

Batra’s marvelous feat in Australia last month ensured that the sport of table tennis be given the recognition it deserved. Batra revealed the magnitude of her wins was far higher than she could imagine and did wonder for the sport in India.

“If you look at the number of medals I won at CWG, no one has ever achieved that feat especially in the women’s category. What pleases me the most is that table tennis has gained a lot of popularity after my 4 Medals. Now people have started taking keen interest in this sport, which wasn’t the case earlier. Parents who were reluctant to let their children play table tennis are now happy to let them pursue it. I always wanted that kind of recognition for the sport in the country,” Batra said.

Batra opined that right from the grassroots level, coaches have started putting in a lot of effort and the results for the same will be visible soon. She also added that foreign coaches have now started to show interest in coaching youngsters in India post her stunning achievement in last month’s competition.

“With the recognition table tennis has got, coaches are motivated to work really hard with us. My coach (Sandeep Gupta) put in tireless hours with me to devise strategy for different players and that paid rich dividends. The coaching scene, overall, has improved in vast proportions. Earlier the general perception among coaches was that there is not much scope for this country, but that has certainly changed now. 

"With our CWG returns, coaches even at the grassroots want their wards to win medals for their country, as they know it’s possible if right guidance is provided. Also, foreign coaches are now taking a keen interest to train Indian players. So that will obviously help us,” Batra added.