“There was little lack of stability if you compare it to Hina Hayata”: Manika Batra following loss against Japanese player in Saudi Smash 2024 Quarterfinals

By Shaurya Dutt

New Delhi [India], May 11 (ANI): Following the loss in the quarterfinals of the Saudi Smash, star India Tennis player Manika Batra opened up on her defeat against Japan’s Hina Hayata saying that she was more stable than me during the clash and that is one of the reasons that proved to be a better player on that given day.

Manika recently participated in the Saudi Smash 2024 in Istanbul, Turkey. The legendary player had started her campaign with a 3-0 (11-6, 13-11, 11-8) victory over Romanian Andreea Dragoman. She defeated China’s Wang Manyu, ranked second in the world, 3-1 (6-11, 11-5, 11-7, 12-10) in the second round, followed by a 3-0 victory against Germany’s Nina Mittelham (11-6, 11-9, 11-7) in the round of 16. However, in the quarterfinal, Batra conceded a defeat to Japan’s Hina Hayata and lost the game 4-1 (11-7, 6-11, 4-11,11-13, 2-11). The match lasted for 39 minutes.

Batra said that she is really happy with her performance in the Saudi Smash from the first game against Dragoman to the last game of her campaign where she lost to Hina in the quarterfinals.

“Saudi Smash is a big tournament in table tennis. To reach the quarterfinals was, I would not say great, but yes good thing for me. I’m really happy with how I played in this tournament, but of course not satisfied because I wanted to do more. But yes, I’m really happy with how I performed. In this tournament from day one with my first match against Romanian till Hina Hayata. So I think I’m really happy and proud that I played my best games in this tournament and how I trained before this Saudi smash was intense so that helped me to reach till this,” Batra told ANI.

The player further spoke about her quarterfinal encounter where she lauded the Japanese player for being stable throughout the fixture.

“I think with Hina, the first game was really going well. I won the first game against her. But I think at the end of the day, I think it was a good game. After that, she was more stable than me. I could see her stability. But you know that fighting spirit, how it was from my first round was still there but there was a little lack of stability if you compare it to Hina. But yes, I will keep on working on these few areas and I have learnt many things from Hina. I have learnt a lot of things from this tournament and I will work on these areas,” legendary Table Tennis plater asserted

Batra expressed her thoughts on the statement given by her mixed-doubles partner Sathiyan Gnanasekaran that the upcoming Paris 2024 will be the best for Indian TT.

“I hope this happens because we all are working hard, whether it’s the men’s team or the women’s team. As you see from the last few tournaments, everyone’s performance is going very well. And everyone is giving their best to reach that level and to perform well in the Olympics. So I think this confidence, faith and belief if we play, we can do something in the Olympics. So yes, our target is of course to win a medal for our country. But yes, we just work hard for that and we give our 100% in the Olympics,” the 28-year-old said.

“We really bond well. We have a good partnership if you see. But unfortunately, we didn’t qualify this time. But of course, if we are playing in future we will give our best for our country,” ITTF-AATU Asian Cup bronze medalist on partnering with Sathiyan Gnanasekaran in the mixed-doubles.

The Indian player said that she is really happy as everyone is supporting her as well as Team India.

“I think the support I am getting and we all are getting is huge whether it’s government, sports authority TOPS federation or other support systems for me Indian Oil is there, Reliance is there and IOS is there so I think Adidas is there so I think we support sports person and because they just want to focus on their game and training and tournaments. I think for me personally it is really helping me and I’m really happy that everyone is there for me and for the team India and supporting us,” the Commonwealth gold medalist stated.

In the end, the 28-year-old spoke about her bonding with coach Aman Balgu. She said Coach Balgu keeps motivating her after every game and in the training sessions as well.

“Yes, we are really bonding well. We understand each other a lot. He has been helping me during my tournaments. He is a player and he knows how to deal with every situation, whether I lose or I win. He keeps on motivating me after every match and in my training sessions. It’s really going well and I’m really happy with our, you know, whatever is going on right now, so I’m really happy with that and really confident that I can perform well in the future if I’ll be with him. Okay, thank you. It was nice talking to you and all the best for your future projects and the Paris Olympics. Hope to connect in the future.

Manika won a bronze medal in the ITTF-AATU Asian Cup in November 2022. This event is one of the most prestigious table tennis tournaments in Asia. The event featured top players from different countries in Asia, including China, Japan, and South Korea. She won 4 medals in 4 events she was participating out of which 2 were gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze medal. At the 2019 Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships, Batra was a member of the women’s team which won the gold by defeating Singapore in the final.