Wiser after her maiden Olympics appearance in Tokyo, Indian table tennis star Manika Batra on Monday said she is focused on taking one match at a time in the upcoming Paris Games and a medal will not be in her mind in the initial rounds. (More Sports News)
Preparing for the Paris Olympics along with her teammates, Batra said she has learned fro༺m her T𒀰okyo Games experience.
"I have learned many things from the last Olympics, and I am not going to make those mistakes again. My mindset has changed since then, I am calmer and have more confidence in myself," said Batra during an interview with Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT).
"I have been working on my stamina and my agil🅘ity, and my ultimate aim is to challenge for a medal."
"But I will go slowly. I will try to be in that zone and give my best. I will go round by round and not think of a medal too early. I will give my best for 𒆙my country," Bat🦂ra, who represents PBG Bengaluru Smashers in UTT, added.
Batra played an instrumental role in the women's team qualifying for the Paris Olympics, a first for Indian table tennis.
She also reached the quarter-finals of the WTT Saudi Smash in May beating World No. 2 and former world champion Wang Manyu of China and♑ World No. 14 Nina Mittelhamജ of Germany.
"Indꦬia qualified for the first time (for the Olympics), this is a huge achievement. I am really happy with how we are working together (at the camp). I think ♛we have a shot at the medal and we should give our best," Batra said.
"The growth of women's table tennis in India is really inspiring. I see many of my fellow players playing really well. Everyon🌌e in the team is motivated and training very hard. Women's table tennis in India will only grow further," she s🐓aid.
Spཧeaking about the growth of women's table tennis in India, the world No. 28 Batra credited UTT, which has provided young players a platform to rub shou🦂lders with foreign stars and get exposure.
"UTT really helped us because we get to practice with foreign players, play match꧒es (against them). We get good match practice," Batra said.
India ꧂will compete in the individual as well as team events of table tennis in Paris.
After the Olympics, star Indian paddlers, including Batra, Sha𝄹rath Kamal, Sreeja Akula, and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, will be joined by the world's top players such as World No. 10 Bernadette Szocs and Nigerian legend Quadri Aruna in the UTT 2024, scheduled to take place in Chennai from August 22 to September 7.
