Manika Batra - Indian Female Table Tennis Player That Made Country Proud

Manika Batra, aged 23, is one of the top ranked tennis players in India and has a world ranking of 58. She hails from Delhi (Naraina Vihar). Both her siblings had an interest in tennis with her elder sister having more influence on her for the sport. She won a match in a state-level tournament and went onto train under Coach Sandeep Gupta soon after. Batra got many modelling offers when she was a teenager but she rejected them to pursue her career in table tennis. Her coach suggested her to join Hans Raj Model School where he ran his academy.

At the Chile Open in 2011, Batra won silver medal in the under-21 category. She represented India at both Commonwealth Games and Asian Games in 2014. She won three medals at the 2015 Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships - two silvers and one bronze. She also won three gold medals at the 2016 South Asian Games. She led the women's team to win a gold medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games held in Gold Coast, Australia. She defeated the four-time gold medallists team of Singapore to get the medal. Batra and Mouma Das won country's maiden silver medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

She is the first woman to win Commonwealth table tennis gold medal in individual play at the CWG 2018. She was featured on the cover of Femina in the July 2018 issue.

By: Neha Maheshwari

Content: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manika_Batra